Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-14

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 recent years, the issue is rapid firing among the people students during a period all university wants to introduce a time spam where students can experience a studying abroad or doing a work placement. In my opinion this viewpoint is so interesting and its merits outweigh its demerits so, I am with the statement.

On the one side, the youngsters are able to learn various skills there. Primarily, the children can view a variety of culture and people which will improve their communication and coordination abilities. To be more precise, with vast knowledge their will be enhancement in their creative and productivity which would be more beneficial for their future. To exemplify, the vast majority of students who go abroad experience more productive skills and able tackle the problematical situation more easily and properly.

On the another side, the university and authorities wants to spend a significant amount of money on children in that case. Firstly, this will make a burden on the authorities and on their parents to spend more which will make their courses more expensive. For instance, in big cities such New York and London the other thing are more expensive and to educate their children they allocate more money which create more challenging for the individuals to educate their children at cities.

To conclude, although they need to spend considerable amount of money, it will provide them a multifarious abilities that children can use in future for their benefit not only this reputation of university and school also improve by those measures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention benefits like communication skills and cultural exposure, the explanation remains superficial. Similarly, the discussion on disadvantages focuses heavily on financial costs but lacks depth regarding other potential drawbacks, such as academic disruption or safety concerns. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific, well-reasoned arguments and ensure that your examples are more clearly linked to the main points. The introduction is also slightly confusing due to non-standard phrasing like 'rapid firing among the people students'.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'On the one side', 'On the another side', and 'To conclude' to signal transitions. However, the flow within paragraphs is sometimes hindered by awkward phrasing and repetitive sentence structures. For instance, the transition between the idea of 'vast knowledge' and 'creative and productivity' is abrupt. Additionally, some referencing is unclear, such as the use of 'they' in the conclusion, which does not clearly refer back to a specific noun. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring clear pronoun reference would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. There are several instances of unnatural word choices or incorrect collocations, such as 'time spam' (likely meaning 'time span'), 'rapid firing' (which is idiomatic but used incorrectly here), and 'problematical situation'. You rely on basic vocabulary like 'good', 'money', and 'children' (when referring to university students). To improve, focus on using more academic collocations and precise terminology related to education and economics. The spelling is generally accurate, but the word choice often feels slightly off-target for an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('university and authorities wants'), article usage ('the other thing are more expensive'), and awkward phrasing ('there will be enhancement in their creative and productivity'). While the meaning is usually clear, these persistent errors prevent the text from reaching a higher band. You should focus on proofreading for basic errors like pluralization and verb tense consistency. Attempting more complex sentence structures is good, but ensure they are grammatically sound before using them in a timed setting.

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

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