Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-01

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 5.0)

Today, educational content helps students in their daily lives; therefore, students are currently focused on studying abroad. Doing a work placement can help students gain work experience and balance their student lives. From my perspective, I agree that all university undergraduate courses should consider a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

From my perspective, yes, the advantages of doing a work placement can outweigh the disadvantages. Working in any organisation can help a student gain practical working experience. For instance, one of my friends was a student back in 2023. He had worked in a well-known organisation for 4 months. After completing his studies, he opened his own business, which was a significant step because it changed his whole life.

Another advantage is that a student can also improve his communication skills. Working with experienced people can help students make deals with stakeholders. For instance, one of my seniors, who was weak in communication, after working with experienced people, their communication skills are now transformed.

in concution,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, reaching only 172 words. This significantly impacts the development of ideas, as the essay is truncated and lacks a proper conclusion. While the student addresses the prompt by stating a clear position, the arguments are underdeveloped. The example regarding the friend's business is relevant but lacks sufficient depth to fully explore the implications of the topic. Furthermore, the prompt asks about both studying abroad and work placements, but the response focuses almost exclusively on work placements, neglecting the 'studying abroad' aspect. This partial coverage of the task, combined with the severe under-length, results in a low score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into short paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is hindered by the incomplete nature of the text. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'For instance' and 'Another advantage', but they are somewhat mechanical. The final sentence, 'in concution,', is a fragment that fails to provide a meaningful summary or conclusion, indicating a lack of control over the overall structure. Paragraphing is present but ineffective due to the lack of a developed argument. To improve, the student should ensure that each paragraph contains a clear topic sentence and sufficient supporting details, and that the essay concludes with a cohesive summary of the main points.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for basic communication but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. Phrases like 'well-known organisation' and 'changed his whole life' are somewhat simplistic. There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'make deals with stakeholders' and 'their communication skills are now transformed', which sound slightly unnatural. The student relies on a limited set of vocabulary and does not demonstrate an ability to use less common or academic lexical items effectively. Expanding the range of vocabulary to include more precise academic terminology would significantly improve the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, the sentence 'one of my seniors, who was weak in communication, after working with experienced people, their communication skills are now transformed' is poorly constructed and lacks grammatical cohesion. There are also punctuation and capitalization errors, such as the lowercase 'in concution'. While the meaning is generally understandable, the lack of control over complex sentence structures and the presence of persistent errors prevent a higher score. Focusing on sentence structure and proofreading for basic errors is essential.

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

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