Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

It is true that studying abroad has become increasingly common recent years. While undergraduate courses include a period of time in studying and working gas serveral advantage, it also has certain disadvantages.

One the one hand, there are several benefits relating to study abroad. Those students who wants a better future and carrers they moved to abroad in search of oppournities. For instance, In my countries most of the universities follows traditional methods of teaching as a result students cannot explore real hand experience. Therefore, most of the students wants to study abroad after completing their secondary education in their countries. So, undergradues courses include a work placement after graduation in order to explore their culture and mobilize their educational knowledge in abroad.

On the other hand, there are several drawbacks such as homesickness. Most of the individulas in this world suffers from this. They cannot live without their families. For instance, in traditional culture their is a trend that childrens should look after their parents when they are old and these cultural taboo still exixts in many developing countries. Consequently, Most of the students suffers from mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Therefore, undergraduates courses should be llimited and all universities in abroad should limit their course time and should not provide work placement.

In conclusion, undergraduate courses has both benefits and drawbacks. I believe that the advaantages are more significant beacause students who want to build their carrer in abroad should get an oppournities for wok placement. So that, advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including studying abroad or a work placement in undergraduate courses, and states a clear position in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For example, the argument regarding traditional teaching methods is underdeveloped, and the discussion on homesickness relies heavily on generalisations rather than specific, well-supported examples. The student attempts to cover all parts of the task, but the reasoning is occasionally disjointed, such as when shifting abruptly from mental health issues to suggesting that universities abroad should limit their course time. Consequently, the response aligns best with Band 5.5, as it addresses the prompt adequately but suffers from under-developed ideas and a somewhat unclear position in places.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into distinct paragraphs with a basic introduction, body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions and mechanical use of cohesive devices, such as repeating 'One the one hand' and 'On the other hand' in unconventional ways. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronouns like 'They' and 'these cultural taboo still exixts'. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal paragraph cohesion is weak, with sentences feeling bolted together rather than flowing naturally. Overall, the organizational structure shows some competence but lacks seamless progression, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptors well.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, with frequent spelling and word-choice errors that occasionally impede communication. Examples of errors include 'carrers', 'oppournities', 'individulas', 'exixts', 'advaantages', and 'wok placement'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'mobilize', 'taboo', and 'homesickness', but these are often misused or awkwardly collocated. The range is limited and barely adequate to convey the intended meaning of the prompt. Due to the high frequency of lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors, the response corresponds closely to a Band 5.0 level for this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but attempts at complex structures are frequently marred by basic grammatical errors. Examples of structural and agreement errors include 'studying and working gas serveral advantage', 'Those students who wants', 'most of the universities follows', and 'undergraduate courses has both benefits'. Punctuation and article usage are also inconsistent throughout the text. While simple sentences are often clear, the high frequency of errors in complex structures causes noticeable difficulty for the reader at times. Therefore, the grammatical performance sits firmly at Band 5.0.

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