Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-07

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 recent years it has become increasingly common to see that people suggest that bachelor degree courses should include a time student spent in gaining small amount of work experience or studying abroad has both advantages and disadvantages. In my point of view benefits would be outweigh drawbacks. This essay will explain my personal opinion and merit and demerit of this topic in detail.

One major advantage is that student who do part time job or do an internship while studying their bachelor degree, it might help them to gain practical knowledge of the field what they choose as a career. This means that pupils who works with their study in their university years have an experience and able to use their skills in the future to get a job with high salary and professional designation. For example, In america the STEM students who have a opportunities to work with companies , research laboratories and hospitals to enhance their practical skills in specific field they choose for themselves. Another benefit is that study in another country provide learners to experience different cultures and build their profile on global level to work in overseas market.

If there are pros of include time then there is some drawback also. one main drawback is that, International education may be academic disrupt progress because of stress of finance and learn different enviornment. In other words there is a chance that student sometimes worried about how they manage living expenses and pay their university fees, secondly how to learn completely different culture and try fit in different weather and surrounded by full of unknown people. For instance, every year many indian students go for study abroad and they struggle with paying loans they took for university fees , for them amound of single penny play a big role in their daily costs.

In conclusion, add a time students spent on work placement and study in another nations have both negative and positive sides . However i personally believe that the advanatges outwiegh the disadvantages because it make students more independent and self-made at an early age, and i think it is beneficial for learners to grow professionally at domestic and global level.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, such as the benefits of practical experience and the challenges of financial stress. However, the development is somewhat uneven. While the benefits are supported with an example regarding STEM students, the discussion on disadvantages is less detailed and relies on generalisations. The conclusion restates the position, but the overall development could be more sophisticated to reach a higher band. The response is clearly focused on the task throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'One major advantage', 'Another benefit', and 'In conclusion'. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'If there are pros of include time then there is some drawback also'. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved to make the progression of ideas smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different aspects of 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 'internship', 'practical knowledge', and 'professional designation'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and minor errors, such as 'academic disrupt progress' instead of 'disrupt academic progress' and 'amound of single penny' instead of 'every single penny'. The range is sufficient for the task, but more precise and varied vocabulary would be needed for a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'student who do part time job', 'pupils who works') and article usage. Some sentences are clunky, such as 'In recent years it has become increasingly common to see that people suggest that...'. These errors do not generally impede communication, but they are persistent throughout the text. A greater variety of error-free complex structures is required for a higher band.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.