Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-31

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 the contemporary era, it is required to gain practical knowledge along with theoretical education. It is argued that during the bachelors degree, every university should consider adding the student exchange program in overseas institution or placement programs for learners. This essay will articulate the bright side and dark side of the given notion.

To commence with the benefits, when students are encouraged to pursue their academic studies from different country or enrolling in placement programs, it can provide exposure. To be precise, learners will be able to comprehend the individuals from various cultural and economic background. For instance, one of my classmates went to Paris from cultural exchange program held in our college. She gain the unique optimism about her life and career. Consequently, these kind of programs have a tremendous positive sides for students.

On the other hand, there are few drawbacks of the notion as well. Firstly, it can be disadvantageous for a student who get companions with wrong intensions. To elaborate further, when students are living abroad alone, it can be emotionally draining for them and some of the classmates can take advantage of the situation. To exemplify, the survey conducted by the well known university of UK, which suggests that 67% of pupils who are residing away from their families, feel the need of a companion. Due to that they end up getting influenced by wrong people. In a result, these kind of activity can be considered as detrimental step for students' future.

To recapitulate, gaining experience of different world is essential during the academic era. Though there are positive side like getting exposure of cultures around the world, it can be proved to be disadvantageous for majority of learners due to some individuals with negative influence.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The arguments regarding cultural exposure and the potential for negative social influence are relevant. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument about 'wrong intentions' is a bit vague and could have been better supported with more concrete reasoning rather than relying on a generic reference to a survey. While the position is clear, the conclusion is slightly contradictory, as it suggests the disadvantages might outweigh the advantages, which conflicts with the earlier points. To reach a higher band, ensure that the development of ideas is more balanced and consistent throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'On the other hand', and 'To recapitulate' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical or slightly unnatural, such as 'In a result'. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally imprecise, for example, 'these kind of programs' should be 'these kinds of programs'. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the link between the paragraphs could be strengthened to ensure a more seamless flow of arguments.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their meaning clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'contemporary era', 'comprehend', and 'detrimental'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'gain the unique optimism' and 'getting companions'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of the writing. To improve, focus on learning collocations and ensuring that words are used in their correct grammatical context.

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 frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('from different country' should be 'from a different country'), subject-verb agreement ('a student who get companions' should be 'a student who gets companions'), and pluralization ('these kind of programs' should be 'these kinds of programs'). These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the message. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences would help in achieving a higher band score.

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

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