Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-15

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)

Many university undergraduate subjects should contain a specific era studying further from country or doing a specific job in a office. I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, because students can study better and they could know a diverse culture. However, some students suffer from being alone and they could feel high pressure of work.

Students who are going abroad for study, can study in a fruitful way. They can find themselves in a good place with teachers and students who can help them in any kind of serious problems. Moreover, the learners get the benefit of studying in a higher ranking institution, such as doing lab projects, nourishing their mind for higher profile. They could also find different people from different ethnicities, which can make them communicate with other people from variety of religions. For example, Adam Smith went to UK for study and he became friends with other religious people. Further, this communication soared the friendliness with other students.

The students who are going for further study every year, they are leaving their parents. When they reach a new country they can feel alone. This could damage students mental health. Thus, it breaks the purpose of study further, as they are always in bad mood. At a work placement, a undergraduate students can highly suffer from the pressure of manager. They have to work in office for long hours. They can get work one after other. Even after finishing of one work, they will not be happy and sit steadily. For instance, in Japan many undergraduates suffered from high work pressure from the office and lastly they managed to quit the job for high pressure.

In conclusion, undergraduate courses should include a period of time spending for studying abroad or doing a work placement, because they can study better and know a different culture. So, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of working alone and being pressurized in office.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, though the development is somewhat uneven. The arguments regarding academic benefits are supported by examples, such as the mention of lab projects and cultural exposure. However, the discussion on disadvantages, particularly the work placement section, relies on generalizations that lack depth. While the position is consistent throughout, the essay would benefit from more nuanced exploration of the 'work placement' aspect, as the current focus leans heavily toward the study abroad experience. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, but the supporting arguments could be more thoroughly elaborated to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a logical progression of ideas, moving from the benefits to the drawbacks and concluding with a summary. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover', 'However', and 'In conclusion', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. Referencing is generally clear, although the connection between the example of Adam Smith and the broader argument about cultural communication is a bit tenuous. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the distinct points of the argument, which helps the reader follow the writer's train of thought.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the writer's meaning, but it lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. There are instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'specific era studying further from country' instead of 'studying abroad', and 'nourishing their mind for higher profile'. Some collocations are unnatural, such as 'soared the friendliness' or 'sit steadily'. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'ethnicities' and 'undergraduate', the overall range is limited, and the word choices often feel simplistic or slightly inaccurate, which occasionally hinders the flow of the argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('a undergraduate students'), subject-verb agreement ('a undergraduate students can highly suffer'), and prepositional usage ('study further from country'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some awkward sentence constructions, such as 'The students who are going for further study every year, they are leaving their parents.' These errors are noticeable and occur throughout the text, though they do not prevent the reader from understanding the intended message. A greater focus on sentence variety and error correction is needed.

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

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