Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-12

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)

Every College should add compulsory internship or abroad exposure for a certain time in their curriculum . This is one of the most believed statement for many individuals. It has many advantages and disadvantages as well.

To begin with the positive sides if placement and abroad study course will add up in the university subject. Students will get the opportunity to get the industry work exposure about the working system. They will get the practical knowledge which is quiet fruitful than theory that they read. Undergraduates also gets the clarity about the things or the skills they need to improve by doing an intern. Nowadays experience is something every company seeks in employee cv . If a person do not have any exposure or work experience in relevant field than they have a high chance of getting rejected. The work they do while reading in university helps them to secure their position in the workplace.

In contrast, there are many negative side as well .Students are not habitual of working and studying together. It is very stressful for them to manage both life together. This leads many learners to severe anxiety and depression problem as well. Meeting new people or moving to unknown country for a work is also much frustrating job for many children's. They may also feel demotivated towards their study as well due to these sudden changed in life which is a bad impact for them .

I personally believe universities should add the policy of work experience in their system.

In conclusion, Work knowledge is the most crucial thing a student needs for the clarity of their upcoming future. This helps them to take the decision what they want to achieve .Practicing internship and fellowship exchange can be much advantageous to the students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including compulsory internships or study abroad periods in university undergraduate courses, and the student presents a clear personal position at the end. Ideas are introduced, such as gaining practical industry exposure and facing potential stress and anxiety, but they tend to be under-developed and lack extended support or specific examples. Phrases like 'quiet fruitful' and general claims about employment show some over-generalisation. However, the main prompt is covered adequately, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor where all parts are addressed though some ideas remain somewhat limited or under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs addressing both pros and cons, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transition phrases like 'To begin with the positive sides' and 'In contrast, there are many negative side as well' are somewhat abrupt and repetitive in structure. Paragraphing is used, but the conclusion is broken into two single-sentence paragraphs ('I personally believe...' and 'In conclusion,...'), which disrupts the logical flow and progression. Referencing and pronoun use ('they', 'them', 'these') can occasionally be unclear as to whether they refer to students, companies, or universities.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases such as 'compulsory internship', 'abroad exposure', and 'fellowship exchange'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'quiet fruitful' instead of 'quite fruitful', 'reading in university' instead of 'studying at university', and referring to university students as 'children's'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but lexical inaccuracies restrict the precision of the argument, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional structures ('If a person do not have...') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'Undergraduates also gets', 'Every College should add... This is one of the most believed statement'), singular/plural consistency (e.g., 'every company seeks in employee cv', 'depression problem'), and incorrect verb forms ('If a person do not have'). While these errors are noticeable and require the reader to occasionally re-read, they rarely completely impede communication, which is characteristic of Band 5.

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

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