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)

In universities there should be different kind of activities as a course in undergraduate programs. These periods should include to studying something in foreign countries or do some kind of jobs as an internship. I think there are many advantages of this that overcome the disadvantages.

First of all studying some courses in abroad broadens our prespective about that specific subject. Due to this approach the student will become able to grow in his field and show remarkable results. Moreover, this will provide deep knowledge and help the student to learn some extraordinary skills. Secondly, studying abroad allows the student to communicate with persons from different countries. This thing will enhance their social circle and boost their communication skills and also provide the benefit of learning new languages.

On the other hand, the universities should have internship oppurtunities for their students during the whole program. As it is known that the practical work is more important than studying the book only. This strategy will allow the students to learn practical things related to their subjects. Moreover, the learners will gain practical skills that will be good for them in future. Due to these short term training programs they will get experience and could compete for jobs.

To sum up, it is crucial to introduce some extracurricular activities in undergraduate programs. Because this modern approach prepare the students that how to compete for a job in future. Moreover, studying in different countries expands the knowledge and provide numerous career opportunities. While working as an internee polishes the practical skills of the students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of including studying abroad or a work placement in undergraduate courses. The writer takes a clear position in the introduction stating that 'there are many advantages of this that overcome the disadvantages.' However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on studying abroad focuses heavily on broadening perspectives and communication skills without deep elaboration, and the 'disadvantages' side of the argument is not truly explored as a drawback, but rather pivoted into a separate advantage regarding internships. Because the ideas are slightly under-developed and the counter-argument is not directly balanced, the response meets the criteria for Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs handling studying abroad and internships, and concluding with a summary. Cohesive devices such as 'First of all', 'Moreover', 'Secondly', and 'On the other hand' are used to structure the text, though some linking is a bit mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, referencing and progression occasionally feel abrupt, such as the sudden transition in the third paragraph to internship opportunities without properly addressing the requested 'disadvantages' aspect from the prompt. Overall, the organizational structure is clear enough to warrant a Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'undergraduate programs', 'internship', 'extracurricular activities', and 'perspective'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as writing 'kind of activities' instead of 'kinds of activities', 'studying some courses in abroad' instead of 'studying some courses abroad', 'oppurtunities', and using 'internee' instead of 'intern'. These lexical errors and the reliance on somewhat repetitive vocabulary items ('practical skills', 'practical things') place this performance comfortably at Band 6, where the vocabulary is sufficient for the task but shows persistent inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional-like structures ('Due to this approach the student will become able to...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, including missing prepositions ('include to studying'), subject-verb agreement issues ('this modern approach prepare the students'), and incorrect infinitives ('prepare the students that how to compete'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the grammatical errors require some effort to decode in places, though they do not completely impede communication. This balance of mixed structures and frequent minor errors aligns with Band 5.5, which is rounded to 6.0 under standard descriptors.

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