Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-12

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)

The prompt suggests that there should be a course during the undergraduation where all students get a period of time to study abroad or they should get an opportunity to do a work placement. I firmly agree with this statement as doing periodical course work outside their own versity can help them to get real life experinece and also make them more open-minded for various culture of th world. Although I do believe that creating these types of opportunities sometimes cause trouble to both adminstrations and student

First of all, doing a course outside their own campus for a period of time help the studenst understand different culture, trandition , language and enviroment. For example, if they complete one of their semester in a different country it will help them build to become more tolerant to other cultures by communicating with their people, accepting their traditions and understanding their language. It also help them to learn a new language, to know how other countries education system work . In this way they can improve their skills and learn to adapt in a different environment.

Secondly, doing a work placement outside the university campus is necessary as it teach them to deal real life problem including harsh deadline, project supervising etc. These types of skill is necessary as the only reason of higher education is teach the student how to cope with real life corporate or business problems.

Nvertheless, it is necessary to mention that sometime organizing a abroad study program and arrange aw work placement can be hard for versity authority as it requires a lot of money.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that undergraduates should study abroad or complete a placement, and you give relevant benefits, including cultural understanding and preparation for workplace demands. The examples about spending a semester in another country and facing deadlines help explain these points. However, the response does not fully answer the comparison in the question: it mentions that organising programmes can be difficult and costly, but does not explain whether these disadvantages are outweighed or develop them alongside the benefits. The work-placement point is also brief, and the conclusion is missing, so your overall judgement is not reinforced. Develop the disadvantages and explicitly weigh them against the benefits before ending with a clear summary of your view.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to two benefit paragraphs and then a paragraph beginning “Nevertheless.” This gives the reader a generally coherent route through your ideas, and signposting such as “First of all” and “Secondly” makes the main points easy to identify. However, the final paragraph introduces the cost issue but does not connect it back to your position or provide a concluding paragraph, so the progression feels incomplete. Some links within sentences are also awkward, and repeated references to “they” and “these types” can make the exact idea less clear. Use clearer referencing, connect each example explicitly to its main point, and finish by summarising the comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “open-minded,” “tolerant,” “work placement,” “harsh deadline,” and “education system.” These choices show an attempt to discuss both cultural learning and employment skills. However, spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural combinations are noticeable, for example “undergraduation,” “versity,” “periodical course work,” and “deal real life problem.” Some wording also repeats general terms such as “help” and “necessary,” limiting precision. Aim to learn accurate academic collocations and check spelling carefully; for instance, describe students as gaining “practical experience” and say a placement helps them “address real-world problems.” This would make your meaning more natural and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional example beginning “if they complete one of their semester in a different country” and a contrast introduced by “Although.” The main ideas are usually understandable, but errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “doing a course … help” needs a singular verb, while “it teach them” and “These types of skill is” show agreement problems. The opening sentence also ends without completing its contrast, and the final paragraph is not developed into a complete conclusion. Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, and revise agreement and plural forms while retaining your attempts at complex structures.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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