Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
The modern world is updating and evolving continuously, technology is now embedded in almost every field. Therefore, to meet the demand of modern world doing an internship in relevant field is now mandatory in many undergraduate fields, especially for the final year students. A good proportion of individuals believe that it is a great idea that universities should include a specific time period for course work or for doing internship in abroad. However, there are both pros and cons to this decision. In this essay I will discuss some of the main reasons why study abroad is important and some of the problems to be overcome.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The response is significantly under the required word count of 250 words, reaching only 106 words. Because the essay is incomplete, it fails to address the prompt fully. The introduction sets up a discussion, but the body paragraphs and conclusion are entirely missing, meaning the position is not developed and the arguments are not supported. According to the IELTS criteria, a response that is severely under-length cannot progress beyond a Band 5 for Task Achievement, as it fails to address all parts of the task and lacks the necessary development of ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text is too short to demonstrate effective paragraphing or a logical progression of ideas. While the opening paragraph uses some basic cohesive devices like 'Therefore' and 'However', the lack of a full essay structure makes it impossible to assess the student's ability to manage cohesion across a longer piece of writing. The flow is currently limited to a single introductory paragraph, which does not meet the requirements for coherent academic writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the limited content provided, but it lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. Phrases like 'modern world is updating' and 'doing an internship in relevant field' are somewhat simplistic and slightly unnatural. There is no evidence of less common lexical items or sophisticated collocations. To improve, the student needs to demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary that is more precise and appropriate for an academic context.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex structures, but there are noticeable errors. For example, 'doing an internship in relevant field' is missing an article, and 'in abroad' is grammatically incorrect (it should be 'abroad'). The sentence 'The modern world is updating and evolving continuously, technology is now embedded...' is a comma splice, which is a common punctuation error. The range of structures is too limited to demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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