Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-10
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)
In this modern era, almost all universities course necessarily should have a specific time period to study in foreign or doing job. I firmly agree that their advantageous would outweigh its disadvantages because study abroad can be helpful in learn real world skills and business innovations in their own nations. However drawback such as expensive as well will explain in upcoming paragraphs.
Moving towards benefits of study and work abroad, it is best way to learn real world job experience. To explain, by doing job in international firms, individuals can get the experience to job in multi culture as well as well developed companies. In addition, Study abroad opens the gate to learn business skills in multi national level. Some foreign business subjects study open business from scratch. For instance, majority of people do study and work in abroad to learn how international markets work then they come back to their home country and explore that business idea.
On the other hand, there are some cons as well of it. it can be very expensive. It leads to highly expensive for study in abroad for a son of middle class family. They can hardly bear the amount of monthly expenses and universities fees on their own without help of banks. For example, in India, plethora of people take loan from bank and send their child
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position, but it is significantly under the 250-word minimum requirement. Because the essay is incomplete and ends abruptly mid-sentence, the development of ideas is limited. While you identify both advantages and disadvantages, the discussion of the drawbacks is cut off, preventing a full exploration of the topic. To improve, ensure you complete your arguments and provide a concluding paragraph that summarises your position. The lack of length and the incomplete nature of the response mean that the task is only partially addressed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay uses basic paragraphing and some cohesive devices such as 'In addition' and 'On the other hand' to signal shifts in ideas. However, the flow is hampered by the incomplete nature of the text. The progression of ideas is logical, but the abrupt ending makes the overall structure feel disjointed. Referencing is generally clear, but the mechanical use of transition words could be improved by using a wider variety of linking phrases to connect sentences more fluidly. Focus on ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence and a complete supporting argument.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'multi-cultural', 'international firms', and 'innovations'. However, there are several word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'doing job' instead of 'working' or 'doing an internship', and 'plethora of people' which is slightly misused in this context. Some phrasing is repetitive, and the vocabulary lacks the precision required for higher bands. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and using more academic synonyms for basic verbs like 'do' or 'study'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the amount of monthly expenses'), verb forms ('helpful in learn'), and sentence fragments. Subject-verb agreement and preposition usage also require attention. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors occur throughout the text and occasionally impede the flow of reading. To reach a higher band, you should practice complex sentence structures like conditionals and relative clauses, while ensuring you proofread for basic subject-verb and article consistency.
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.