Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

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)

Many people believe that universities should force every students to spend time studying in other countries or working at real job . Although this requirement can cause financial and scheduling problems . I believe the merits for a student's future career are much greater than the demerits .

On the one hand , making these programs compulsory can creat difficulties . The biggest issue is money . In the other coutry there are lot of money requires for traveling , living , and other expenses , These are not affordable for those students who belong to under privileged family . Moreover , taking a work placement especially an unpaid one can be hard for students who need to earn money while studying . Furthermore , some degrees like mathematics or philosophy focus purely on theory , so finding useful job placement can be challenging and might unnecessarily delay a student's graduation .

On the other hand , practical experience offers huge benefits for studens . First , work placement give students real-world practice before they graduate . They learn actual workplace skills , build professional contacts , and gain confidence , which helps them find a perfect job much faster after finishing university . Second , studying another countries helps studets independence , improve communication , and understad different cultures .

In conclusion , while compulsory study abroad and work experience can cause financal and planning challenges , universities can solve these problems with scholarships and flexible schedules . Overall , the personal growth and job opportunities students gain far outweight the drawbacks .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of making study abroad or work placements compulsory, presenting a clear position throughout. Ideas are appropriately developed, such as mentioning financial constraints, scheduling issues, and practical career benefits. However, some of the supporting points are slightly brief and tend to over-generalize, which places the response securely in the Band 6 or 7 range. For instance, the discussion on degrees like mathematics and philosophy is relevant but remains somewhat underdeveloped. Overall, the prompt is fully addressed with a clear stance and coherent reasoning, leading to a solid task response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. The essay is divided into appropriate paragraphs, starting with an introduction that states the writer's position, followed by separate body paragraphs for disadvantages and advantages, and a clear concluding summary. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used to signpost the structure. However, there are some mechanical transitions and punctuation issues around cohesive markers (e.g., spaces before commas like 'On the one hand ,'), and referencing is occasionally slightly imprecise, meaning it does not quite reach the higher threshold of Band 7. Nonetheless, the flow of ideas is easy to follow throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common terms such as 'underprivileged', 'compulsory', 'practical experience', and 'professional contacts'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'creat' instead of 'create', 'coutry' instead of 'country', 'financal' instead of 'financial', and 'outweight' instead of 'outweigh'. Additionally, phrases like 'doing a real job' are slightly informal. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning despite these errors, the response fits comfortably into the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional structures and subordinate clauses such as 'Although this requirement can cause financial and scheduling problems, I believe...' and '...for those students who belong to underprivileged families'. However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues, including sentence fragments ('Although this requirement can cause financial and scheduling problems .'), subject-verb agreement errors ('every students' instead of 'every student'), and missing articles ('in other coutry', 'studens independence'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the essay from reaching a Band 7 score.

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

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