Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

This topic is worth talking about because it has a great impact on the future of all the students, why all universities undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

My opinion on this matter is very clear; I personally believe that all universities undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement because it helps student to perform well in practical life this gives them knowledge, confidence and experience to rock in the field they have chosen.

For example, a student having field of software engineering universities must allow them to go to abroad for gaining experience or given him some internship in software house this widely opens his mind and way of thinking, understanding the environment which helps them facing the people and situation in an appropriate way.

My experience is, when I was a student a choose accountant field; My university gave me an opportunity to work with bank of Spain. My hometown was NEW York, so I desperately accept this offer and went to Spain my internship was about one year and in this one year I learnt a lot about my field, like gained bulk of experience I learnt how to behave in work environment how to face people.

Conclusion of this issue is all universities have to give opportunities to them so that students can easily adjust in their working field just like we give a lot of tests and assessments before going for final paper this makes us more confident and prepared for upcoming problems. This gives us courage to deal with all the issues and hurdles which we somehow face in our field.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position in favor of mandatory study abroad or work placements. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you provide a personal example, the arguments remain quite general and repetitive. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the 'disadvantages' mentioned in the prompt to provide a more balanced view, even if you ultimately dismiss them. The ideas are relevant, but the explanation of how these experiences specifically benefit academic or professional growth could be more detailed and analytical rather than relying on simple assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite basic and sometimes mechanical. For instance, the transition between the introduction and the body paragraphs is abrupt. You rely heavily on simple connectors like 'For example' and 'My experience is'. To improve, try using a wider variety of linking words and phrases to show logical relationships between sentences, such as 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'in contrast'. Additionally, some sentences are run-on or lack clear logical flow, which affects the overall progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. You use some informal or repetitive phrasing, such as 'rock in the field' and 'bulk of experience'. There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'a choose accountant field' (should be 'I chose the field of accounting') and 'software house' (which is not standard English). To improve, focus on learning more academic collocations and synonyms to avoid repeating the same words throughout the essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'universities must allow them... or given him'), incorrect verb tenses, and punctuation errors. For example, 'My hometown was NEW York, so I desperately accept this offer' contains a tense shift that is confusing. You should focus on proofreading for basic errors and practice using complex sentences with correct subordination to demonstrate better control over your grammar.

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

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