Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-23
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)
This topic represents the period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work replacement for all university undergraduates. There are many advantages and disadvantages regarding to this, which are given below.
On the one hand, there are many advantages of including a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work replacement. During their studies, students must be given the opportunity of continuing their study in abroad because this helps them to gain the international exposure. It will also help them to gain the international experience and improve thier skills and capabilities in the future. They learn in the multiculture environment which will be very beneficial for them in their speaking skills. Students from different countries came with the different languages and this will enhance the speaking skills and also improvers their confidence. They can also improves thier lifestyle by studying abroad by holding an international degree. International degree is very benefical for the students to grow and live better. Additionally, they have greater opportunities of work and to make thier life advance.
On the other hand, their are some disadvantages as well. Students who will study abroad will become so far from their parents, they will miss the main occasions and important family functions which are very important for them to attend but they are not elligible to attend all these functions because they are so far from thier parents. Another cons is that, studying abroad will demand so higher amount of cost which will not affordable for some parents (middle/lower class family). So thats why some students will not able to study abroad, So they have to live in their country and have to be successful.
For example, one of my friend went to UK for higher studies after completing his graduations. He is now studying with different students from different countries and different cultures. He had improved his talking and learning skills by living in the multicultural environment. So study abroad is very important for a student to grow better in the society.
In conclusion, according to my opinion studying abroad in more beneficial and has many advantages. So the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of making study abroad or work placements mandatory, and clearly states an overall position in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat repetitive and general, relying heavily on repeating concepts like international exposure, speaking skills, and multicultural environments without sufficient depth or elaboration. The example provided about a friend is personal and relevant, but it remains basic. This places the response comfortably at Band 6.0, as it addresses all parts of the prompt with relevant ideas, though some are under-developed.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay has a clear overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing both sides, a supporting example, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as the advantages in one paragraph and the disadvantages in another. However, cohesion within sentences and paragraphs is occasionally mechanical or faulty. For instance, transitional phrases like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are utilized, but referencing and linking within paragraphs can be repetitive (e.g., frequent use of 'they' and 'thier'). Overall, the logical organization is coherent enough to earn a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their main ideas about studying abroad and associated costs. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'multicultural environment', 'international exposure', and 'financial burden' equivalents, but these are often offset by noticeable word-choice errors, incorrect collocations ('work replacement' instead of 'work placement', 'studying abroad will demand so higher amount of cost'), and recurring spelling mistakes ('thier', 'multiculture', 'benefical', 'elligible', 'improvers'). Because the vocabulary is minimally adequate yet contains frequent errors in spelling and collocation, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or relative clauses ('Students from different countries came with the different languages and this will enhance...'). However, grammatical control is inconsistent, featuring frequent errors in article usage, prepositional phrases ('regarding to this', 'in abroad'), subject-verb agreement ('Students... came with', 'some students will not able'), and spelling errors in pronouns. While communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of basic grammatical and mechanical inaccuracies keeps the score at Band 5.0.
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