Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-30

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 university undergraduate programs should carries a period of time spent studying internationally or doing work placement out of their country. Well, in my opinion this way have too many advantages for students or workers. But as well, it depends on their expenses or the cost of money they can easily manage to live outside of their country.

Moreover, firstly, we discussed about studying in abroad if a student can manage easily their expenses in another country with the money they have in their accounts they could live easily and study internationally. Furthermore, if a student have no income to manage their expenses they need to do a job for their survival which might causes them a problem because it is very hard to manage studies with the part-time job. While it also effects your grades as u could not properly focused on your studies. In addition, you might have to face issues in the university which causes you a massive problem.

Furthermore, secondly, if you worked in another country you not only learn their traditions or languages, you get a exposure that how world works. While you get a chance to be confident about your career or life as you get communicational skills which is now very important in every field. In addition, you learn life from different perspectives and you have a chance to improve yourself more. While having an work placement out of your country gives you numerous of opportunities it also gives you a chance to have better income.

Overall, in the conclusion, university courses should include both because studying and work placement both have different advantages. While studying or doing work placement out of your country really gives u good exposure, and also you have a chance to learn numerous number of skills which might be useful for your future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both studying abroad and work placements. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. While you mention financial constraints and personal growth, the arguments lack depth and specific examples. The position is clear, but the discussion of the 'disadvantages' is primarily focused on financial difficulty rather than a broader analysis of the topic. To improve, ensure that each paragraph provides a more detailed explanation of how these experiences impact a student's academic or professional trajectory, rather than just listing potential issues.

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 and sometimes repetitive (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'In addition', 'While'). The transition between ideas is occasionally abrupt, and the logical flow within paragraphs could be smoother. For example, the second paragraph jumps between studying abroad and the difficulties of part-time work without a clear thematic link. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each sentence builds logically upon the previous one will help achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'manage', 'expenses', and 'study'. You attempt some collocations, such as 'gain exposure' and 'life perspectives', but these are sometimes used inaccurately or in a slightly unnatural way (e.g., 'get a exposure'). To improve, focus on learning topic-specific vocabulary related to international education and professional development, and try to use more sophisticated synonyms to avoid repeating the same words throughout the essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'programs should carries', 'student have no income') and article usage (e.g., 'in abroad', 'an work placement'). Sentence structures are mostly simple or contain errors when attempting complexity. For instance, 'it also effects your grades as u could not properly focused' contains both a word choice error ('effects' instead of 'affects') and a tense error. While the meaning is generally clear, these persistent errors in basic grammar and punctuation hinder the flow and accuracy of the writing.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.