Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16

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)

Some people argue that all type collage bechelor learning should include a period of time spent studying foregin country or doing some practical work. Although this methods has certain drawbacks. I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

There are several important benifits of this policy. Firstly, work placement allow to gain pratical exposure in industrial areas. Students can develop critical thinking, problem solving abilities, creativity and communication skills. They can apply their knowledge in practical situations and real life situations. Consequently they gain valuable experiance and become confident in dealing with real world challeges. Secondly, studying abroad can provide high quality education and a wider range of acedemic opportunities. Many foreign universities offer advanced facilities, experienced professiors and learning programmes that may not available in some developing coutries. For instance, a student from India who studies pharmacy in countries such as us and uk may have opportunities to use modern laboratory equipment.

However, there are some disadvantages to consider. Studying abroad can be expenisve because students may have to pay for trasportation, accomodation and daily expences. In addition students may have find it difficulties to adjust in new country or workplace. Moreover problems such as language barriers can accure while communicate with local people. For instance, in Germany people wants to survive and wants a job. German langugae must requied to getting job.

In conclusion, studing abroad and doing a work placement may allow to improve skill such as a confidence, problem solving abilities and communication skills. there are several drawbacks such as a language barrier and studying abroad would be expenisve.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including a study abroad or work placement period in undergraduate courses, and the writer clearly states their position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in the introduction. Ideas are extended with relevant examples, such as mentioning students gaining practical exposure in industrial areas and the specific example of pharmacy students utilizing modern laboratory equipment in the US or UK. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed and lack depth. There is a tendency to generalise in places, but overall, the task response is well-covered and aligns with a Band 6.5 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used adequately, separating the benefits, drawbacks, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'However', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in minor awkward transitions and repetitive sentence starters. Additionally, paragraphing within the body could be more balanced. These features are characteristic of a Band 6 performance.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'practical exposure', 'critical thinking', and 'academic opportunities'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'collage' instead of 'college', 'bechelor' instead of 'bachelor', 'foregin' instead of 'foreign', 'benifits' instead of 'benefits', 'pratical' instead of 'practical', 'experiance' instead of 'experience', 'challeges' instead of 'challenges', 'professiors' instead of 'professors', 'expenisve' instead of 'expensive', 'trasportation' instead of 'transportation', 'accomodation' instead of 'accommodation', 'accure' instead of 'occur', and 'studing' instead of 'studying'. These errors occasionally distract the reader, though they do not impede overall communication, placing the response securely at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like conditional clauses and relative clauses (e.g., 'learning programmes that may not available in some developing coutries'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('work placement allow to gain', 'adjust in new country'), incorrect verb forms ('people wants to survive', 'German langugae must requied to getting job'), and fragment sentences ('Although this methods has certain drawbacks.'). These errors require some effort to decode and persist throughout the response, which aligns well with the Band 5 descriptors.

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

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