Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Educational institutions should include a certain time frame for the undergraduate students to spend time in a real working environment or for abroad study. Although doing an internship or work placement made with difficult as they can find difficult to cope with the organisation and might create frequent errors, exposure into real working environment can increase communication skills and build networking which can outweigh the drawback.

The major significant for undergraduate students working as an intern or spending time for abroad study can make them exposure into the real working environment which can increase their communication skills and adapt to handle pressure. During the period, students need to do different tasks along with making frequent communication with clients. This can develop habit two handle pressure. As a result, they can build their mental strength and necessary skills. Additionally, pupils can build a wide range of network. By working in an organisation, one can develop link to the channel of command and also with the customers. As a result, they can develop relationship with many people. For example, working in Customer Service Department involves direct conversation with clients which can increase your linkage.

On the other hand, doing such work without efficient knowledge can create a lot of mistakes in the workplace. This is because, students does not know about how the organisation run and they can face difficulties to adjust to the rules and regulations. As a result, they may create frequent errors and it may worsen the task. For instance, an intern working in a loan department can find difficult to work and one minor mistake in work can create big issues.

In conclusion, building communication skills and network can outweigh the drawback of getting difficult to adjust to the work environment or abroad study.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, ultimately taking a clear position that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. Ideas are generally relevant, such as the development of communication skills, networking, and the potential for making mistakes due to a lack of knowledge. However, some arguments lack full extension and suffer from repetition. For instance, the discussion on communication and networking in the second paragraph covers similar ground without introducing distinctly new conceptual developments. While the response meets the criteria for Band 6 by addressing the prompt and presenting a clear position, it falls short of Band 7 because the support for ideas is sometimes superficial rather than fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the advantages, disadvantages, and the final verdict. However, cohesion within and between sentences is occasionally faulty or mechanical. For example, phrases like 'As a result' and 'Additionally' are used repetitively, and referencing is sometimes unclear, such as shifting abruptly between pronouns ('one can develop link... which can increase your linkage'). The logical flow between ideas is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing, placing this response firmly in Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'undergraduate students', 'real working environment', and 'Customer Service Department'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form throughout the text. Examples include 'made with difficult' instead of 'difficult', 'exposure into' instead of 'exposure to', 'two handle pressure' instead of 'to handle pressure', and 'a wide range of network' instead of 'a wide network'. These lexical errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the score to Band 6 as they reveal a lack of precise control over less common lexical items.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some ambition with subordinate clauses such as 'Although doing an internship or work placement made with difficult as they can find difficult...'. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('students does not know', 'one minor mistake... can create big issues'), missing articles, and awkward syntactic structures. While the meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely completely impeded, the high frequency of grammatical errors prevents the essay from reaching Band 6, justifying a Band 5.5 score.

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

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