Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-20

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)

Nowadays, some people think that all universitity undergraduate courses should include a time duration for spent studying abroad or doing a workplacement will more benefitial for students. I think this would be great opportunity to the students but their are some problrms to may consider about this idea.

In Sri Lanka there are both government universities and private universities also some universities are affilated with othe rcountry universities. In each university there are different strategies and plans for the students. Some universities provides study in abroad or an internship period within thier academic year. Students get an opportunity to work on industry and get hands on experience to add their theoratical knowledge to practical world also they will get chance to work with industrial experties. Although, students who work hard with high ranked will get chance to study in abroad after specific time period. It will help each individuals to polish their knowledge with international teaching environment. This is a great chance for students if universities can provide without any arguments. Furthermore, students got an idea about thier career path and it will help students to stay motivated and positive thinking about thie life.

Moreover, their are some problems may cause for this decision. Practically this can not be full-fill. If all the universities give this chance it will create lack of job opportunities also countires will cahange the rules and banned the higher education opportunities for international students. Some students will choose the industry pathways for coverup their personal matters also, it will may cause for their academic background.

I think the idea is good but it will more beneficial if universities can provide the guidenss for sudents about the career or higher educaion paths. Practically every university can not give all the students an opportunities because they are limited. I think government also have responsibility to take an action for this matter.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The candidate addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses. A clear position is stated in the introduction ("I think this would be great opportunity to the students but their are some problrms to may consider about this idea"). However, the ideas are somewhat under-developed and lack clear extension in places. For instance, the discussion on disadvantages mentions potential visa issues and job market saturation ("countires will cahange the rules and banned the higher education opportunities"), but these points remain vague and speculative. The response meets the requirements of the task by exploring both sides of the issue, fitting comfortably into Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs discussing advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilized, though some paragraphs mix disparate ideas. Cohesive devices such as "Furthermore", "Moreover", and "Although" are employed, but their usage is occasionally mechanical or inaccurate, such as starting a sentence with "Although,". Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronoun usage like "this decision" or "this matter". Overall, logical progression is present, but cohesion requires more control to reach a higher band, making Band 5.5 or 6.0 appropriate. Awarding a 6.0 as the overall structure remains discernible.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The lexical range is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic ideas about education, internships, and career paths. However, there are numerous spelling errors throughout the text, including "universitity", "workplacement", "benefitial", "problrms", "affilated", "theoratical", "experties", "full-fill", "cahange", "guidenss", and "educaion". Less common vocabulary is attempted ("theoretical knowledge", "international teaching environment", "career path"), but frequent inaccuracies in word formation and spelling limit the score. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey meaning, aligning well with the Band 5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical accuracy is weak. Frequent errors are evident, such as subject-verb agreement issues ("there are some problrms to may consider", "universities provides"), incorrect prepositions ("time duration for spent"), and awkward phrasing ("students who work hard with high ranked will get chance"). Furthermore, run-on sentences and punctuation slips are common. While the meaning can generally be extracted, the high frequency of grammatical errors causes distraction and occasional difficulty for the reader, which places the response firmly in the Band 5 category.

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

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