Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-26

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)

According to my view, deciding the people that the universities should include the period to spend time abroad or doing a job is one's choice. But I strongly agree with the statement that the undergraduate courses should contain work placement and study in other countries. It is because by doing so, the students get more experience ang international exposure.

To commence with, when it is become mandatory in the study courses for students to do a practical work which is related to their subjects then the university students become more competent and talented in their fields. Because when they go for getting any job already know what the difficulties, hardships and troubles are they have to face in their work.

For instance: one of my cousins getting qualification from "University of Faisalabad" in the field of agriculture. His father is a farmer and has his own land, he also helped his father in his work. In this way, he gained practical experience in his course of study. When he got a job and worked hard as a result, he became the wealthiest person in our whole family.

Moreover, when it is become necessary to send people abroad for gaining international exposure then it helps a lot the people to gain job and increases the chance of success because we have to tackle with world-wide tasks.

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of both of them such as it require money, mostly people are not able to leave their family behind and some people think that it is just waste of time. Subsequently, the advantages of this would not outweigh its disadvantages

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt but presents a significant contradiction. While the introduction and body paragraphs argue in favor of mandatory study abroad and work placements, the final sentence concludes that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. This creates a lack of clarity regarding your actual position. Furthermore, the ideas are somewhat underdeveloped; for instance, the example of your cousin is anecdotal and does not fully explain how a university-mandated program would function on a systemic level. To improve, ensure your conclusion aligns with your main arguments and provide more analytical support for your claims rather than relying solely on personal anecdotes.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. For example, 'To commence with' is used to start the first body paragraph, but the transition to the second body paragraph is weak. Additionally, the final sentence, 'Subsequently, the advantages of this would not outweigh its disadvantages', is a logical non-sequitur given the preceding arguments. The referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between ideas is occasionally disjointed, which hinders the overall progression of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on basic phrasing such as 'hardships and troubles' and 'increases the chance of success'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'deciding the people that the universities should include'. While your meaning is generally clear, you should aim to incorporate more academic vocabulary and precise collocations to demonstrate a wider range. Avoiding repetitive phrasing and using more sophisticated synonyms will help elevate your score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. You frequently struggle with verb tenses and subject-verb agreement, such as 'when it is become mandatory' and 'it help a lot the people'. There are also issues with sentence fragments and awkward phrasing, such as 'According to my view, deciding the people that the universities should include...'. These errors occur frequently enough to cause some distraction for the reader. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction and ensuring consistent verb tense usage throughout your writing.

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

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