Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

It is widely believed that all university undergraduate courses should include a period of time devote to studying aboard or doing a work placement . Although, it has several advantages and disadvantages as well.This idea involved benefits like ensure more practical work and advanced training for studying abroad for pupils.

One one hand, addition of a new period for undergraduate individuals provides a great advantage of learning more practical work and create their CV strong. To illustrate this,if one would devote his time for mastering a work practically, then it would leads to give him a good experience as well as it adds a considerable point in his resume, which attracts the interviewer fir a job. Another advantage, is a student trained himself for studying abroad by investing his time in onewnew lecture.To examplify this,a student has to do much work like creating assignments and preparing presentationsw. So,he did not find time for learning extra knowledge for studying aboard,As a result, inclusion of extra period secures the pupils for their future.

On the other hand,this idea leads to a disadvantage also.That is , not all the students are from wealthy background,So they can't afford the expense of overseas education. It might cause low confidence among pupils.

In conclusion, although studying abroad is expensive but benifits like learning more practical work and gathering knowledge for overseas education,plays a vital role.So, these advantages outweigh the disadvantages of this issue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You give a position in the conclusion—that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages—and identify relevant points about practical experience, CVs and the cost of overseas study. However, the response addresses the question only partially: the benefits are not clearly explained as applying to both studying abroad and work placements, and the disadvantage is mentioned briefly without exploring its effects or possible responses. The claim that an extra period helps students prepare for overseas study is also difficult to follow and is not clearly linked to the proposal. The response contains 227 words, so it is 23 words below the 250-word minimum; the 10 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop each main point with a clear explanation or specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting opposing sides, and a conclusion. Signposts such as “On one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help readers identify the stages of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the discussion of assignments and presentations does not clearly explain why an extra period would prepare students for studying abroad. Some linking is mechanical, and the conclusion repeats the same benefits rather than drawing the argument together. Improve cohesion by making each paragraph develop one central point in a logical sequence, and use clear references to connect examples to the claims they support.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “work placement,” “practical work,” “experience,” “expense,” and “confidence.” There are also attempts at more formal expressions such as “considerable point” and “plays a vital role.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning difficult to interpret. For example, “create their CV strong” and “trained himself for studying abroad” do not express the intended ideas naturally. Spelling errors such as “aboard” for “abroad,” “benifits,” and “examplify” also reduce accuracy. Build a more precise range of phrases for discussing employability, costs and international study, and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including conditional forms such as “if one would devote his time…” and a contrast clause beginning “although.” This shows an effort to vary sentence structure, but complex constructions are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences hard to follow. For instance, “it would leads” has an incorrect verb form, while “a student trained himself” does not fit the intended meaning or tense. There are also problems with articles, agreement and sentence boundaries, as in “Another advantage, is…” and the run-on sequence beginning “So they can't afford…”. Practise accurate clause construction and verb forms, then proofread punctuation and agreement.

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