Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-17

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)

All education institutes change their curriculum for undergraduate in that way which indulge a small period of time of internship in abroad or in local companies. This can help to students to develop their skills and exposure of the market at young age. In my opinion, the benefits of this would outweigh the drawbacks. In following essay, i will discuss both.

To begin with, the advantages includes such, students get exposure of different culture at foreign country. Moreover, many nations such as US, Canada and UK have distingue education system. They use advance level of laboratories instruments, provide industrial training while study. In addition, their education is based on practical rather than theoretical, which help to student to improve their skills. Furthermore, if undergraduate children do internship in local organization, they might be get idea about local market and they can develop some practical skill over their. Furthermore, after graduation if they got placement in MNC like Amazon, Jio or Google, they might be not face ant dilemmas in beginning.

On the other hand, disadvantages such as, abroad education is quite expensive, which create some financial pressure on parents. For example, some parents use their life time saving for their child education in foreign countries like US and UK. Moreover, the accommodation and other amenities are quite expensive as well. Furthermore, if student do internship during their under graduation, they might be not have enough time for study which impact adversely on their academic.

In conclusion, although studying or undertaking an internship abroad can be expensive and may reduce the time available for academic studies, the benefits are greater. Such experiences can provide students with practical knowledge, international exposure and a better understanding of the job market, which can be highly valuable for their future careers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, covering cultural exposure, practical skills, and financial/academic drawbacks. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the mention of 'distingue education system' and 'advance level of laboratories' lacks specific elaboration or depth. While the position is consistent throughout, the supporting arguments would benefit from more detailed examples or logical expansion to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, maintaining the clear stance established in the introduction.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', 'In addition', and 'On the other hand' are used to guide the reader. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. There are also instances where the flow is slightly hindered by awkward phrasing, such as 'In following essay, i will discuss both.' Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is generally clear, and the paragraphing is appropriate for the task.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'curriculum', 'internship', 'MNC', and 'amenities'. However, there are several instances of incorrect word choice or collocation, such as 'distingue education system' (likely meant 'distinctive' or 'distinguished'), 'exposure of the market' (should be 'exposure to'), and 'might be not face ant dilemmas' (should be 'might not face any'). These errors do not impede communication but indicate a limited range of precise vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally conveyed, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('advantages includes'), missing articles ('in abroad', 'during their under graduation'), and incorrect verb forms ('if student do internship', 'they might be not have'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the student attempts complex structures, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the response from reaching a higher band, although these errors rarely prevent the reader from understanding the intended message.

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

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