Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

Do you think the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Study abroad has become a common part of modern life, allowing students to study abroad or doing a work placement. While this trend offers several benefits, it also present certain drawback. In this essay, I will discuss the main advantage and disadvantages of studying abroad or work and then give my own opinion.

One major advantage of study abroad is that students can meet different people and interact different culture of time. They make friends with different language, culture and religion. They know their local people, their history, their life-style and native language. With study in undergraduate courses students allow extra hours to a part time job, so they can meet their living expenses, and do not face difficulties in monthly budget. Furthermore, study in different countries make students more confident, responsible and independent person. For example, in European countries students allowed to part time job, so they can earn money and submit their university fees or fulfill their living expenses.

However, there are some disadvantage of study abroad. One major concern is that students can leave their home, their home city or country and their comfort zone. They can solve their problem alone, cooked food and washing clothes. Living alone can lead to several problems like loneliness, stress and lack of emotional support especially during difficult time. In addition, studying in universities and doing a work make challenging to attend lectures and manage study, which can have a negative impact on the student health.

In conclusion, study abroad offers many advantages, such as student self growth, make confident, responsible and independence person. However, it also has some disadvantage, including loneliness, stress and time management. In my opinion, the benefits of study abroad outweigh the drawback, provided the student more independent and responsible student.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both the advantages and disadvantages and state a clear overall view: “the benefits of study abroad outweigh the drawback.” Relevant benefits include cultural contact, independence and earning money, while loneliness and the challenge of balancing work and study are also identified. However, the discussion does not fully match the breadth of the prompt, which asks about a required period abroad or a work placement: most points focus on studying abroad, and the work-placement aspect is only briefly mentioned. Some ideas also need clearer explanation—for example, how a part-time job relates to the course requirement, and why the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Develop fewer points with specific reasoning or an example to make your position more convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion that restates your view. Signposting such as “One major advantage,” “However,” and “In conclusion” helps readers follow the main stages. Within paragraphs, though, ideas sometimes move abruptly. The advantage paragraph shifts from cultural exchange to living expenses and then confidence without explaining the links between them. Some references are also unclear, as in “They know their local people,” where it is not immediately clear whose local people are meant. Group related points and use clearer links between claims and examples; this would make the progression smoother and cohesion less dependent on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “comfort zone,” “emotional support,” “living expenses,” and “independent.” There are also attempts to express abstract benefits such as personal growth and responsibility. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes meaning less clear. For example, “interact different culture of time” does not express the intended idea naturally, and “make confident” is not an appropriate collocation. “Study abroad” is repeated frequently, while “advantage” and “disadvantage” recur in similar forms. Build a wider set of accurate phrases for cultural exchange, personal development and balancing responsibilities, and check that each phrase fits its context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a concession in the introduction (“While this trend offers several benefits…”) and a conditional phrase in the conclusion (“provided the student…”). However, control is inconsistent, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction often make the writing awkward. Examples include “it also present,” “students allowed to part time job,” and “studying in universities and doing a work make challenging.” Some sentences also omit necessary grammatical elements, as in “With study in undergraduate courses students allow extra hours.” Practise building accurate subject–verb–object sentences first, then add subordinate clauses. Pay particular attention to plural subjects, verb agreement and complete, correctly formed clauses.

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