Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

All universities undergraduate courses should have include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing work placement

It is best practical way for the students want to avail this oppurtounity . In this way a student improve his character . it include advantages as well as disadvantages for an international student

firstly we talk about advantages , when a student went to abroad he has to work and live lonely in that way he become independent and e takes his responsibilities by his self .He has to work on his own potential . In living an abroad the student get his communication skills and confidence improve , he has to talk with the people of that country and give presentation on different subjects that helps him to improve confidence and way of talking with people . Another advantage is that he understand every thing correctly because the abroad countries give them more hand work , a student gets more practical,assignments and presentation that help student to increase his grades.

In other way it also has disadvantages that an international student need to face , if a person traveling first time in abroad he feels homesick that divert his intentions from studies. He is not able to focus at everything . The second thing is that some students belongs to poor family they don't have too much resources to fulfill their needs and the students havet owork as part time , that affect their studies . The main reason is accomodation , the rent are very expensive and student are unable to pay them and houshold tings are also expensive

The disadvantages exist, but the benefits of practical experience and personal development are greater.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, and the writer clearly states a position in the final sentence, noting that 'the benefits... are greater.' However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on advantages largely revolves around independence and confidence, but these points are expressed with simple generalisations rather than fully extended arguments or specific examples. Similarly, the disadvantages touch upon homesickness and financial struggles, but these are left under-developed. Because all parts of the task are addressed and a clear stance is maintained despite minimal support, this performance aligns closely with Band 5.5 to 6.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The overall arrangement of the essay attempts a logical structure, beginning with an introduction, moving to body paragraphs addressing advantages and disadvantages, and concluding with a summary statement. However, cohesion is frequently faulty and mechanical. The student relies on basic transitional phrases such as 'firstly we talk about advantages' and 'In other way it also has disadvantages.' Furthermore, paragraphing is underdeveloped; the second body paragraph runs together multiple distinct ideas like homesickness and financial constraints without clear internal markers. Referencing is also problematic, as pronouns such as 'he' and 'they' sometimes have ambiguous antecedents. The lack of flexible cohesive devices places this text firmly in the Band 5 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited, basic lexical resource with frequent spelling errors (e.g., 'oppurtounity', 'accomodation', 'houshold tings') and awkward word choices (e.g., 'hand work' instead of 'practical work', 'abroad countries' instead of 'foreign countries'). While there are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'independent', 'responsibilities', and 'homesick', the persistent errors in collocation and spelling cause some difficulty for the reader and occasionally impede smooth communication. The vocabulary is repetitive, particularly with pronouns and basic verbs. These limitations reflect the characteristics of Band 5, where the lexical range is minimally adequate for the task but marred by noticeable errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response features a very limited range of grammatical structures. The majority of sentences are either simple or clumsily joined comma splices, such as 'when a student went to abroad he has to work and live lonely in that way he become independent and e takes his responsibilities by his self.' Errors in subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, and tense consistency are pervasive throughout the text (e.g., 'All universities undergraduate courses should have include', 'student get his communication skills', 'the rent are very expensive'). Complex sentence attempts are frequently faulty and cause strain for the reader. Given the high frequency of basic and complex structural errors, this response corresponds to a Band 4.5, rounded to 5.0 for partially successful communication.

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

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