Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-02

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)

While many universities provide work placement program at the end of the year of graduation, in my view including a period of time spent in studying abroad will significantly benefits a student. By approaching this method advantages would far outweigh the disadvantages.

Universities have a larger population of students enrolled in different courses which generate them a good revenue. Instead of spending in the work placement programs, it could be invested in studying abroad programs. For example, students in the final year would travel in the different country for further remaining study of the degree. Furthermore, by doing this graduates would explore different culture and job market relatively bigger compared to their country. Moreover, student are likely to secure job by landing their resume in local companies using study abroad program and which potentially gives them a higher package compared to their home country. if not secured a job their, by holding a globally experienced degree it would help them to secure a standard job in their respective country too.

Although including abroad programs have many advantages, but it also comes with certain disadvantages too. firstly, language barrier is the common problem. Many students is unfamiliar with English language which is spoken world wide. secondly, the major problem this program can also face is a student managing their living expenses in abroad, but it could be manageable because student visa contains working right limits which would allow students to study and work in weekends without disturbing their academic progress.

in conclusion, universities should include studying abroad programs, which would help a graduate to dream big and achieve better employment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that the advantages of studying abroad outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, such as cultural exploration and job market access. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The argument regarding university revenue is slightly tangential and lacks a clear logical link to the benefits for the student. Furthermore, the discussion of disadvantages is brief and could be more thoroughly explored to demonstrate a balanced view. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting arguments would benefit from more specific examples or deeper analysis to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Furthermore', 'Moreover', and 'firstly', though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The referencing is generally clear, although the sentence structure in the second paragraph ('...using study abroad program and which potentially gives them...') is slightly awkward, which affects the flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the advantages from the disadvantages, which helps the reader follow the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey their meaning clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'job market', 'academic progress', and 'language barrier'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of imprecise word choice or collocation errors, such as 'generate them a good revenue' instead of 'generate good revenue' and 'higher package' (a colloquialism for salary). To improve, the student should focus on more precise academic collocations and avoid informal phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('student are likely', 'Many students is unfamiliar') and article usage ('in the different country', 'in abroad'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some run-on sentences and missing commas. These errors do not typically impede communication, but they are persistent enough to prevent the essay from reaching the 7.0 band. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would significantly improve the score.

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