Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-18

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 contemporary society, the university undergraduate subjects must add a duration of time that has been spent while studying in a foreign country or working in any domain. While some individuals think that it leads to several detrimental impacts, I strongly believe that this development will have a positive influence on different areas of life and society. This essay will explain why this position is justified with some reasons and multiple examples.

One of the main benefits is that an addition of time duration or work placement to undergraduate courses would effectively contribute to students because they can manage their timeline accordingly. For instance, by highlighting the period of time would help numerous students in achieving their future employment targets. Furthermore, the mention of work experience will help many undergraduates in securing their desired role in a specific company. Consequently, facilitating every individual to plan their upcoming personal or professional timeline effectively and conveniently.

On the other hand, some people believe that the management should avoid including a duration of time or citing about work placement since it can influence students in a negative way. In other words, the expectation of individuals would become more positive and they will not focus on their academics and other goals. For example, numerous courses are challenging such as economics, mathematics, and physics which can result in delay to accomplish in a particular timeframe. Subsequently, this creates distressing circumstances for students which leads to lack of confidence.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that the advantageous aspects of including the time period or work placement on university undergraduate courses outweigh the setbacks. However, some challenges exist, disregarding the positive effects would limit progress and development among youngsters. Therefore, a balanced and responsible approach should be adopted to maximise beneficial outcomes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding 'managing their timeline' is vague and lacks a clear explanation of how studying abroad or work placements specifically facilitate this. The examples provided, such as 'achieving future employment targets', are generic and lack the depth required for a higher band. While the essay covers both sides of the argument, the reasoning remains repetitive and lacks specific, concrete illustrations of how these experiences impact a student's academic or professional life. To improve, focus on providing more detailed, logical explanations for your claims.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'Consequently', and 'On the other hand' are used to link sentences and paragraphs. However, some of the transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the connection between 'highlighting the period of time' and 'achieving employment targets' is not fully articulated. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the overall structure helps the reader follow the argument, though the flow could be more natural.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and variety expected at higher bands. There is a tendency to use repetitive phrasing, such as 'period of time' and 'duration of time', which appears multiple times. Some word choices are slightly unnatural or imprecise, such as 'citing about work placement' or 'distressing circumstances'. While the meaning is clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little evidence of less common lexical items or sophisticated collocations. To improve, try to vary your vocabulary and use more topic-specific terminology related to higher education and professional development.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'the university undergraduate subjects must add a duration of time' is awkward, and 'delay to accomplish in a particular timeframe' is grammatically incorrect. There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on sentence construction and ensuring subject-verb agreement will help improve your accuracy.

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

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