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)

Nowadays the education is a important part of one's life which shapes the character and make the people self-suffient. It is argued all the undergraduate cources in university should be include a period of time that should be spent on duing a work placement or in studying abroad. From my perspective, benefits definately outweigh the disadvatages.

To begin with, when students spend their courses time studying abroad the get latest knowledge related to their courses in internationl universities and also attain skills from their peers which will help them in their professional life. For instance, when students are exposed to latest in overseas universities they learn different thing and skills from their friends, which results in experience and these skills and experience help them to in getting a good job in future.

Furthermore, by doing a work placement during allocated time of courses, students gain experience and knowledge related to their field. Which is beneficial for the employment in the future. To illustrate, many companies hire people who has experience in the field. So, it will help them.

On the other hand, the drabacks of studying abroad are many students do not focus on their studies and become prey to different useless activities such as going to parties and hangout with friends. Sometimes students are involved in criminal activities, as a result they struggle in their life, in many cases they did not even get a job.

In conclusion, althought there are some drawbacks like involving in crime and leisure activities, but advantages such as gain of latest knowledge while studying overseas and work experience in the field oughtweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear in the introduction and conclusion: you believe the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. You address both study abroad and work placements, and give relevant reasons, including gaining knowledge, skills and experience that may help with employment. However, the support is limited and sometimes unclear. The study-abroad example repeats the general claim about learning from peers rather than showing a specific benefit, while the work-placement point is brief and not fully explained. The disadvantage paragraph focuses on parties and criminal activity, but does not explain how likely or representative these outcomes are, or weigh them against the benefits. Develop each main idea with a clearer explanation or a concrete example, and make the comparison between advantages and disadvantages more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Sequencing is easy to follow, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “Furthermore,” and “On the other hand” help show the direction of the argument. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent overall arrangement and also shows some stronger control through paragraphing and progression. However, links within paragraphs are sometimes mechanical, and some references are unclear. For example, “Which is beneficial for the employment in the future” is a fragment whose connection to the preceding sentence is not fully integrated, and “So, it will help them” does not specify what “it” refers to. Connect explanations more smoothly and use precise references to strengthen progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “work placement,” “professional life,” “employment,” and “criminal activities.” However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-form and collocation errors reduce accuracy and sometimes make the reader pause. Examples include “self-suffient,” “internationl,” “drabacks,” and “oughtweigh,” as well as the unnatural phrase “latest knowledge.” Some wording is also vague or repetitive, such as “different thing and skills” and repeated references to “experience and skills.” Build a more precise set of phrases for academic and workplace benefits, and check spelling and collocations carefully. More accurate choices such as “up-to-date knowledge” and “gain practical experience” would make the argument clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “when,” “which,” and “as a result.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors occur frequently enough to cause difficulty in places. For example, “the get latest knowledge” has an incorrect subject and verb form, “courses … should be include” uses the wrong passive form, and “many companies hire people who has experience” has subject–verb disagreement. The sentence beginning “Which is beneficial” is a fragment, while the conclusion’s “although … but” construction is not correctly formed. Practise accurate sentence patterns before adding complexity: join dependent clauses to complete sentences, check agreement and verb forms, and use articles consistently.

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