Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-18

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)

At present, the world has become the global village. Every youngster wants to get further education at abroad at the level of undergraduate courses and explore the culture of other countries. The phenomenon of studying abroad is very popular day-by-day. Some foreign universities give the opporunties to get admission and also work placement. I think, the advantages of the work placement is more as compared to disadvantages.

At international level, universities give the opportunites to the students to get admission and spent the time in her country for the purpose of education. For instance, UK welcomed the foreign students at the level of undergraduate courses and give the work opportunities after and during studies. This type of activity is not only beneficial for student in terms of expenses to meet but also take part the country economy. Secondly, foreign remitences sent to her country. Thirdly, talented youth becomes the fruitful for the foreign country. These countries give the nationality and get their benefits through students skills.

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages. First of all, talented students do not come back to their home country. Because they earn a lot in foreign country as compared to native country. Similarly, in abroad, national person does not like to foreign people. Because they considered, these students snatch our rights in terms of employment.

In short, studing abroad at the level of undergraduate courses is a good routine for underdeveloping countries. Because youngster in these countries are very talented and do the work hard to meet the both ends of her families.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by expressing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Relevant ideas are presented, such as financial benefits for students and home countries, as well as the drawbacks like brain drain and xenophobia. However, these ideas are somewhat under-developed and lack the depth expected for higher bands. For instance, points regarding remittances and economic impact are introduced briefly without substantial extension or specific real-world examples beyond a general mention of the UK. The conclusion is also quite brief and introduces new assertions about developing countries rather than effectively summarising the main points. Consequently, the response aligns best with Band 5 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into four paragraphs, showing an attempt at a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. However, the progression of ideas within paragraphs can be disjointed. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes inaccurately or mechanically, such as 'Secondly' followed by 'Thirdly' where the logical flow is weak. Furthermore, pronoun referencing is often confusing, as seen with phrases like 'spent the time in her country' or 'meet the both ends of her families,' where pronouns do not clearly refer to their intended antecedents. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion requires better management. These features place the response firmly at Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses a limited vocabulary range that is minimally adequate for the task. There are several noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'opporunties' (spelling), 'at abroad', 'meet the both ends', and 'do the work hard'. Phrases like 'global village' and 'talented youth' show attempts at slightly less common vocabulary, but frequent word-choice and spelling errors cause some difficulty for the reader and impede smooth communication at times. The lexical control is characteristic of a Band 5 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('at abroad', 'to foreign people'), incorrect verb forms ('studing', 'do not like to foreign people'), and preposition errors ('at the level of undergraduate courses'). Many complex sentence attempts result in faulty structures and unclear meaning. While the reader can generally decipher the overall message, the high frequency of errors places this text at Band 5.

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

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