Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19

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)

Nowadays, in eduactional sectors there are some new modification are seen for improving it, which also includes a debate over university undergraduates for introducing a time period to study internationally or in other interships. Some people supports this view because it allow students to open-up to a new world where they can learn and explore new skills or knowledge where other argue that it simply cause distraction or waste a waste of their time. I personally support that idea of exchange for students to ehnace their learning.

On the one hand, people who supports this idea to spent atleast a semester outside of their university at abroad educational institutes or in some other comapines for work, this could potentially improve their knowledge, expose them to new environment, and bring a change to their life. Moving into some new culture or space freshen up student and make the eduactional journey more intresting and exciting for them instead just following the same routine. Moreover, this exposure can be helpful for them choose their future career and educational goals because they can find their intrest through this exposure.

On the other hand, people are against this idea believe that it is a waste of time and a cause of distraction for students form their main feild of study at university. It just elongate their time period of degree. Whereas, they can do this after compeletion of their studies.

I firmly believe that students should be allowed to expose to new envireonmrnt so can learn and experience new skills and learning in their life and so they can vbring a change in their eduactional journey.

In conclusion, where their is a concept of a waste of time distraction by spend some time between their degree it is b

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad or doing a work placement during an undergraduate degree, while clearly stating a personal position. The introduction and body paragraphs present relevant ideas, such as broadening horizons and gaining career direction versus the risk of distraction and degree elongation. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly in the conclusion which trails off unfinished ('is b'). While the student covers all parts of the task, the depth of extension places this response comfortably at Band 5.5 to 6.0. Given that the main ideas are presented and a clear stance is maintained despite some under-development, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs supporting both sides, and a stated position. Paragraphing is attempted, although the final concluding paragraph breaks off mid-sentence, leaving the structure incomplete at the very end. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts ('On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Moreover'), but referencing and linking are sometimes mechanical or faulty, such as 'where their is a concept of a waste of time distraction by spend some time between their degree'. These lapses in logical progression and the abrupt termination of the text prevent the essay from achieving a higher band. Overall, the organisation demonstrates characteristics of Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'interships' (misspelled), 'exchange', and 'exposure'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('eduactional', 'comapines', 'intrest', 'envireonmrnt', 'vbringe') and awkward word choices ('waste a waste'). These errors do not entirely impede communication, as the reader can still grasp the intended meaning, but they occur with enough frequency to restrict the score. The vocabulary control aligns best with the Band 5 descriptors, where noticeable errors and limited precision are apparent throughout the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures frequently contain grammatical errors or awkward phrasing, such as 'Some people supports this view because it allow students to open-up...' (subject-verb agreement issues) and 'people who supports this idea to spent atleast...'. Punctuation and article usage are also inconsistent. While some error-free sentences do exist, frequent mistakes in grammar and tense consistency cause some difficulty for the reader. This performance matches the criteria for Band 5, where a limited range of structures is accompanied by frequent errors.

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

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