Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22

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)

Alll university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. I strongly agree with this opinion. In my perspective , studying abroad develop better lifestyle and secure future.Whereas, work placement foster employment opportunities and enable the development of various professional skills.

There are three main reason for holding my view. To begin with if there is the time comittment for abroad studies then individuals can improve thier life standard. Studying abroad can secure the future of pupils and they can earn a decent income.Consequently, the poverty from the country can significantly reduce.

Another important reason is that doing a work placement foster many skills that can increase the hiring chances of employment . Many companies offer job due to the fact that their CV is very professional. For instance, If IT professionals can learn computer skills such as MS word and Power point . They have higher job opportunities. Lastly, Work placement also offer experience that also increases job opportunities .Students can get the occupation that is less hard and offer the higher income. It can significantly secure the pupils future and the students from lower background.

However, it cause some issues such as students don't have sufficient time

comittment for learning undergraduate courses. They cannot progressively focus on thier studies . For instance, medical science require enough time to study without it student can face failure in exam , Consequently, It can raise many different issues that can be the source of disaster .

In conclusion, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages . Students who allocate the time to study abroad can see the improvement int hier life standard. Moreover, work placement provide many benefits such as better experience and professional skills that can be instrumental for employments.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, taking a clear and consistent stance that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The writer identifies both aspects, mentioning lifestyle and employment for studying abroad and work placements, while briefly acknowledging disadvantages like time constraints in paragraph four. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the examples provided, such as IT professionals learning 'MS word and Power point', are too basic for an academic essay and do not strongly support the argument. Furthermore, the reasoning occasionally generalises without sufficient depth. It meets the Band 6 descriptor because all parts are addressed with relevant, albeit somewhat under-developed, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, reasons for agreement, disadvantages, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are attempted using transitional phrases such as 'To begin with', 'Another important reason', 'However', and 'In conclusion'. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and faulty, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'their CV is very professional' where the antecedent is ambiguous). Paragraph two is excessively repetitive with the phrase 'secure the future' and 'job opportunities'. Overall, the logical progression is present, but mechanical linking and repetitive referencing place it firmly in Band 5.5 to 6.0 territory; a score of 5.5 is appropriate due to the repetitive nature of the cohesive structures.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'comittment', 'employment opportunities', and 'instrumental'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('Alll', 'thier', 'comittment', 'int hier') and awkward word choices or collocations ('less hard', 'offer the higher income', 'progressively focus'). These errors do not completely impede communication, as the general meaning remains clear, but they cause some difficulty for the reader. The vocabulary falls short of Band 6 due to the frequency of basic spelling mistakes and imprecise lexical choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional clauses ('If IT professionals can learn...') and relative clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('medical science require', 'It cause some issues'), missing articles, and punctuation issues (unnecessary spaces before commas). While complex structures are attempted, they are frequently faulty. The density of errors places this response at Band 5, as the grammatical inaccuracies require the reader to occasionally re-read sections to grasp the intended meaning.

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