Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-03

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)

It is suggested that all university courses should have a period of studying in another country or doing work experience.I think this is a good idea because the advantage are more important than the disadvantage.

There are several benefits of this proposal. First, if students study abroad they can learn abut new cultures and improve their language skills.For example, a student from Pakistan who studies in England will have a chance to speak English everyday and this will help them a lot. Second,doing a work placement is also very useful.Students can get real work experience and this will help them to find a job after university.Many companies prefer to hire people who already have some experience.

However,there are also some disadvantage. One problem is money.It is very expensive to study in another country because students have to pay for travel, accommodation and food. Not all families can afford this. Another disadvantage is that the university course will be longer.This means students will finish their degree later and they will start working later too.

Beside these problems, I believe the advantage outweigh the disadvantages. Also the experience that students get from studying abroad or working is very valuable for their future career and personal life.

In conclusion, although studying abroad or doing work placement has some problems like cost and time,I think the benefits are greater.It helps student to develop new skills and become more ready for work.students study abroad they can learn about new cultures and they improve their language skills.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, covering cultural benefits and employability as advantages, and financial/time constraints as disadvantages. However, the development is somewhat basic. While the points are clear, they lack depth and specific elaboration. For instance, the point about 'real work experience' could be expanded with more detail on how it specifically impacts career prospects. The conclusion contains a repetitive sentence ('students study abroad they can learn about new cultures...') which adds nothing to the argument. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with more sophisticated reasoning and avoid redundant information in the final paragraph.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'First', 'Second', 'Another'). There are also minor issues with punctuation and spacing, such as missing spaces after periods (e.g., 'experience.Students', 'disadvantage.One'). While the overall arrangement is coherent, the lack of varied linking words and the occasional mechanical error in paragraph structure prevent a higher score. Improving the flow between sentences using a wider variety of transition signals would enhance the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'good idea', 'very useful', and 'very valuable' are common and lack precision. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary such as 'work placement', 'accommodation', and 'career', but the range is limited. The student struggles with word forms and collocations at times, such as 'the advantage are more important than the disadvantage' (should be plural). To improve, the student should aim to incorporate more academic collocations and precise synonyms to demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary, moving beyond simple, everyday language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('the advantage are', 'the advantage outweigh') and article usage. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several missing spaces after full stops and commas. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the message, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency of the text. To achieve a higher band, the student needs to focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and attempt to use a greater variety of complex sentence structures with more precision.

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

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