Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-08
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 university undergraduate students should include a overseas studying course or work placement programs. Moreover, it provides vast details on carrier and help educators to choose right carrier streamline . I believe it consists certain merits and demerits. However, for some students who are looking for deferent carrier options it proves to be worthless.
On the one hand, university students academics include numerous subjects and streamline for their carrier options, while some education centers includes program like oversea studies and job placement at the campus which not only beneficial to choose right carrier option but also provides various jobs from different sectors. Furthermore, by indulge in internship program at early age can enhance their professional skills and also bolster their communication skill. Additionally, students who pursuing oversea education can have opportunity to know various ethnicity and cultural, which help them to live in multicultural environment. To cite an example, UK is the one of the top immigration friendly where students from various ethnicity living with peace and harmony.
On the other hand, undertaking all the other academics programs can be burden for university students, firstly, it disturbs their precious time schedule. Moreover, extended hours of other program can loose focus on other crucial subjects which degrade their overall development. In addition to it, enrolling in the internship can be a huge struggle for students, maintaining work-life balance becoming dauting task for students. To cite an example, students who indulge in internship and pursuing their academics fail to fulfil their education demands and as a result they deteriorate their development.
To sum up, the university students will benefits from overseas study and internship, however, maintaining work-life balance and vigorous study focus become impossible task for students. Ultimately, at certain extent I believe the disadvantages clearly outweigh advantages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout, concluding that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, the argument regarding 'work-life balance' is mentioned but not fully explored with specific, logical depth. While the prompt is addressed, the ideas are slightly repetitive, and the reasoning could be more nuanced to reach a higher band. The position is consistent, but the supporting arguments lack the necessary detail to fully persuade the reader, keeping this at a Band 6 level.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Furthermore', and 'To sum up' are used to link ideas. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly inaccurate, such as 'In addition to it' or 'at certain extent'. Additionally, there are some issues with referencing and sentence-level flow that occasionally make the text feel slightly disjointed. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be smoother.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are frequent errors in word choice and collocation that occasionally impede clarity. For instance, the student uses 'carrier' instead of 'career', 'streamline' instead of 'stream', and 'indulge' instead of 'engaging'. Phrases like 'loose focus' (should be 'lose') and 'dauting task' (should be 'daunting') demonstrate a limited control over spelling and precise word usage. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary, the inaccuracies are frequent enough to prevent a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'education centers includes'), article usage (e.g., 'the one of the top'), and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'students who pursuing oversea education'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma splices and run-on sentences. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence construction limits the score. More attention to proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy is required.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.