Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-13

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)

Some people believe that all university should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement in their undergraduate courses. The primary advantage of this is that

students will know how to use their academic knowledge from the courses can help them in different conditions, whether in a foreign country or a work environment. This advantage outweighs the disadvantage of time spent on finding the suitable school to study and workplaces to do an internship on their own.

Nowadays, most of the undergraduates struggle to navigate themselves using the academic knowledge from the university because they don't know how to apply it in real life. For example, when students first enter the job market, they get shocked by the working culture and struggle putting knowledge into practice. As a result, students lose interest in their major. However, including particularly the work placement in the universities undergraduate courses, would help them to transition smoothly to the work environment.

On the other hand, finding the suitable opportunity to study or work takes certain amount of time. If the universities leave the task of finding a university to study abroad or companies to do intership in solely to the students, it would take so much more time of the students and creates pressure on them.

In conclusion, including the studying abroud and working in the university courses will advantage students to experience the real life working culture while there are at school which outweighs the disadvantage of spending time to find the opportunities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear answer that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and you identify relevant benefits, especially applying academic knowledge and adjusting to workplace culture. The example of graduates being shocked by working culture supports your position, but the discussion is brief and the study-abroad option receives little development compared with work placement. The disadvantage is also narrowly framed as the time and pressure involved in finding a placement, without considering other possible costs or explaining how universities might reduce this burden. The response is 240 words, so it is 10 words below the required minimum; 14 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop both sides with fuller explanation and a specific example to address the task more completely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction states your position, separate paragraphs discuss benefits and drawbacks, and a conclusion restates your view. Linking phrases such as “For example,” “As a result,” and “On the other hand” help show relationships between ideas. However, progression is limited because the main benefit is repeated in the conclusion rather than further developed, and the disadvantage paragraph is short. Some connections are unclear, particularly “students will know how to use their academic knowledge from the courses can help them,” where the relationship between the ideas is difficult to follow. Improve cohesion by making each paragraph’s central point explicit, linking explanations more precisely, and extending the discussion before moving to the next point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “academic knowledge,” “work environment,” “job market,” and “transition smoothly.” These choices make your main ideas understandable. However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations are noticeably inaccurate, such as “navigate themselves using the academic knowledge,” “lose interest in their major,” and “advantage students to experience.” Spelling errors in “intership” and “abroud” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise expressions and check spelling carefully; for example, describe students as applying knowledge in practical settings and say that placements benefit or enable them. A broader range of accurate vocabulary would make the argument clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure beginning “If the universities leave the task…” and a relative clause in “students who first enter the job market.” This shows some range, and the overall meaning is generally recoverable. However, complex sentences are often faulty: “students will know how to use their academic knowledge from the courses can help them” combines structures incorrectly, while “it would take so much more time of the students and creates pressure” has inconsistent verb forms. There are also errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction, as in “all university should include” and “takes certain amount of time.” Practise building accurate clauses and checking agreement and verb forms before adding complexity.

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

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