Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The undergraduate curriculum of universities and colleges should be ammended according to the changing dynamics. A semester exchange abroad or a compulsory industrial internship should be introduced for college students. The pros of these changes clearly outweigh the corns.

I believe that changing curriculum would benefit students a lot.

Students will develop networking skills which will play an important role in their careers. When students go for a semester in foreign country or join a job during studies, there is a high chance they make connections with other people like foreign researchers, corporate employees. These people can help students in finding better opportunities or even direct reccomendations to hiring teams. For exmple, most students are placed in companies where they completed their internships during studies. Another example is the placement of students in foreign labs after spending some time in those universities as exchange students.

Students experience different culture which is beneficial for their careers. when students join industry during their studies. They can better connect and apply theoritical knowledge to practical projects. They help them learn practical and job ready skills with which they can apply to senior positions in their fields. Also, students explore favourite areas and domains in their fields. Similarly, students who want to pursue higher studies in research can experience better research methods and practices with advanced technologies.

In summary, industrial internships and semester exchanges are valuable for students. Making connections and experiencing environments other than local college environment are benefits of these new changes. In my opinion, students benefit a lot from such opportunites and universities should be encouraged to make these things mandatory for students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing whether the advantages of mandatory study abroad or work placements outweigh the disadvantages. A clear position is stated in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. The student develops relevant ideas regarding networking, career opportunities, and cultural or practical experience. However, some arguments lack deeper extension and contain minor typos (e.g., 'corns' instead of 'pros and cons'). The ideas are generally well supported with examples such as internships leading to job placements. The overall task response is solid, though slightly more developed analysis of potential disadvantages would have balanced the argument further. This performance aligns comfortably with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a clear logical organisation with an introduction, distinct body paragraphs focusing on separate main ideas, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices such as 'When students go for', 'Another example is', and 'In summary' are used to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and some paragraph transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes like networking and practical skill acquisition, giving the text a coherent overall arrangement. The progression of ideas is generally clear despite minor limitations in cohesive variety, fitting the Band 6.0 criteria well.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'industrial internship', 'dynamic', and 'theoretical knowledge'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('ammended', 'reccomendations', 'Exmple', 'theoritical', 'opportunites') and a slip of the pen ('corns' instead of cons). Word choice is generally appropriate and sufficient to convey meaning without impeding the reader's understanding, but these frequent spelling slips and occasional awkward phrasings prevent the lexical score from reaching Band 7.0. The vocabulary deployed successfully addresses the topic while remaining at a Band 6.0 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures (e.g., 'When students go for a semester in a foreign country...'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, such as missing articles ('in foreign country'), subject-verb agreement issues ('They help them learn'), and preposition slips. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and the meaning remains clear. The control of punctuation and sentence boundaries is generally acceptable, supporting a Band 6.0 classification for grammatical range and accuracy.

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.