Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-14
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)
As per some individuals, a time period inculding abroad study or doing an internship should be an essential part of all university level undergraduate courses. Although it can sometime result in unnecessary burden on students, I believe that the benefits of work experience and financial far outweigh any drawbacks.
The main advantage is that while doing a work placement in abroad, individuals gets an opportunity to gain an overseas experience and . Additionally, As a result, their future chances of getting employed in a reputed organisation increase . For instance, Chitkara university selects its best 6 computer science engineering students every year and provides them an opportunity to work with IT companies of America, during their final year. These students end up getting permanently employed there with a good package.
Another notable benefit Additionally, not only does an early exposure of work inculcates a sense of responsibility in students, but also make them financially independent at an early age
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad or doing a work placement during undergraduate courses. However, the student's text suffers significantly from an under-length penalty, containing only 159 words compared to the required 250-word minimum. Because of this severe truncation, the ideas remain heavily underdeveloped. While a clear position is stated in the introduction regarding the benefits outweighing the drawbacks, the body paragraphs trail off abruptly (leaving unfinished sentences like 'and .') and fail to fully explore the disadvantages mentioned in the introduction. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed, leading to a band score of 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay attempts a logical structure with an introduction and body paragraphs attempting to outline advantages. However, coherence is severely undermined by the incomplete nature of the response, including broken sentences and hanging conjunctions such as 'And Additionally, As a result...' and an abrupt cutoff in the final paragraph. Paragraphing is attempted, but the lack of completion makes it difficult to trace a clear overall progression. Cohesive devices are either repetitive or mechanically applied. Referencing is occasionally unclear. Overall, the organizational flaws and incomplete thoughts keep the response at a band 5.0 level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for addressing the general topic, utilizing terms such as 'undergraduate courses', 'internship', 'financial independence', and 'reputed organisation'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'a time period inculding abroad study' instead of 'including studying abroad', and 'work placement in abroad'. Furthermore, word forms are sometimes awkward, such as 'inculcates' used with 'early exposure of work'. The vocabulary range is limited and minimally adequate for the task, with errors that occasionally cause mild confusion for the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, demonstrated by the conditional-style opening 'As per some individuals...' and the correlative structure 'not only does... but also make...'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the short text. There are subject-verb agreement errors, such as 'individuals gets' and 'make them' instead of 'makes them'. Punctuation and sentence completeness are major issues, with several sentences breaking off mid-thought, such as 'overseas experience and .'. These frequent errors and structural failures limit the control of grammar and place the response firmly in the band 5 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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