Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15

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)

There is an ongoing controversy about students who are pursuing undergraduate courses at their university should form a time period of how much time students splurge on studying abroad or how much time they are allocating to find work or placement. I believe that by creating this kind of follow up and tracking system the government and universities can know the intrests of their students.

The advantages of tracking students time spent on studying abroad or doing work placement are vast. If universities start adding one period for just evaluation of time spent studying abroad or finding work opportunities is benifical for both side students can track their study time also can know how much they studying in university and also finding new work opportunities. In short, they can know the time spent on each tasks and evaluate themselves. For example during this period in universities lecture students can get idea about that how much time they are giving to other subjects.

Another benefit of this period is that after completing their studies at university how this speacial period of evaluation helped them to secure a great or dream job. For instance, In Japan they have this kind of period in their university where students must have to evaluate their time spent on their study and how much time they splurge to find any work so that they can get idea where they are lacking and what needs to be done to solve the issues or problems they are tackling with.

In my view, Including one period in universities for checking their study time and doing work will help them to work on their skills and also give them the result of how much they time they are wasting which has less importance.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the prompt regarding whether undergraduate courses should include a study abroad or work placement period, and whether advantages outweigh disadvantages. However, the interpretation of the task is slightly skewed towards a tracking or evaluation system rather than the core debate of studying abroad or work placements themselves. The writer presents a clear personal viewpoint in the conclusion and maintains a consistent stance throughout the essay. Ideas are introduced, such as personal self-evaluation and an example from Japan, but these are somewhat repetitive and lack deeper extension or thorough development. As a result, the response satisfies the basic requirements of addressing the prompt, but the main ideas remain somewhat underdeveloped and tangential to the true core of the topic. This aligns best with the criteria for Band 5.5, rounded to Band 5.0 due to limited idea extension.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion, showing an attempt at paragraphing. However, overall progression is limited by repetitive arguments and awkward transitions between ideas. Cohesive devices are often inadequate, inaccurate, or overused, such as repetitive use of phrases like 'for instance' and 'this kind of period.' Referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly with pronoun usage and dangling modifiers, which makes the logical flow halting at times. While the writer maintains a discernible structure throughout the text, the mechanical and faulty application of cohesive ties prevents a higher score. This corresponds closely to the Band 5 descriptors for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally repetitive and basic, demonstrating a limited range that is only minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common expressions, such as 'ongoing controversy,' 'splurge,' and 'allocating,' but these are often used with inappropriate collocations or incorrect lexical choices (e.g., 'splurge' used in place of 'spend' or 'allocate'). There are also notable errors in word formation and choice (e.g., 'intrests' instead of 'interests', 'benifical' instead of 'beneficial'). These lexical inadequacies and noticeable spelling errors cause some difficulty for the reader and restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay exhibits a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on long, run-on complex sentences that frequently break down grammatically. There are numerous foundational errors, including missing prepositions, incorrect verb forms, run-on clauses, and faulty punctuation (e.g., 'There is an ongoing controversy about students who are pursuing undergraduate courses at their university should form a time period...'). While the student attempts complex sentence forms, these attempts are often faulty and impede clear communication. The high frequency of grammatical inaccuracies across simple and complex sentences places this performance firmly at Band 4.5, rounded to Band 5.0 based on the presence of some correct simple structures.

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

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