Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-17

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 4.0)

yes universities courses should be include a periods of time spend studying abroad because its very benificial for the students .if they went to abroad for higher study programs first of all it increase her confident level and they can understand other countries languges abd skills and their way of teaching .students can learn other activities which are not performed in their countries.they can understand how to survive in other countries without their parents and their family members.for example my cousin goes to abroad for her study because he wants th settle his life and he choose for his studying abroad .becuase he want to get better job .when he completed his degree he came back in his country and he get very good job.abroad students get good job opportunties as compared to the pakistan students.i think its most important for the students they should be spent studying abroad or doing a work placements.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response addresses the main prompt regarding whether the advantages of studying abroad outweigh disadvantages, taking a clear stance that the benefits are significant. However, the text contains a major limitation regarding length, as it is only 154 words long compared to the required 250-word minimum. Furthermore, the ideas presented are underdeveloped and lack extension. For instance, the writer mentions that studying abroad increases confidence and language skills, but fails to elaborate on these points with well-developed explanations. The example provided about a cousin is overly anecdotal and brief. Due to the severe word count penalty and the lack of full idea development, this performance aligns closely with Band 4.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The text suffers from a lack of proper paragraphing, as the entire response is written as a single, dense block of text without any division between introduction, body, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are extremely basic and repetitive, relying heavily on words like 'and', 'becuase', and 'then'. There is a lack of cohesive links to guide the reader smoothly through the argument, and referencing is sometimes confusing, such as mixing pronouns like 'he' and 'her' when referring to the cousin. Overall arrangement lacks clear progression, fitting best into Band 4.0, as information and ideas are not arranged coherently with adequate paragraphing.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, constrained by the simple nature of the sentences. The student attempts some less common terms like 'benificial', 'opportunties', and 'survive', but these are marred by frequent spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'languges', 'th settle', and 'get very good job'. There is limited lexical variety, and basic words are reused multiple times throughout the short text. Communication is occasionally strained due to these lexical inaccuracies. This vocabulary profile reflects the characteristics of Band 4.0, where vocabulary is basic and errors frequently occur.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatically, the response is heavily limited. The writer relies mostly on simple and coordinate clauses linked by conjunctions, with unsuccessful attempts at complex structures. There is a complete lack of punctuation, capitalization, and accurate sentence boundaries. Frequent grammatical errors include missing articles, incorrect verb forms ('universities courses should be include a periods'), subject-verb agreement issues ('increase her confident level'), and incorrect prepositions ('came back in his country'). These errors are pervasive and distort meaning in several places, which firmly places the grammatical performance at Band 4.0.

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

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