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)

It is often argued that all the university undergratues courses should be required some time spend studying abroad and gain experience through a placement.While this approach have some disadvantages,i strongly believed that advantages are greater beacuse it helps students to develop practical skills and gain valauable international experience.

One of the major advantages of studying aboard after undergraduate is developing practical skills.Learners can get hands on skills what they are qualified for and according to their degree they can have many oppourtunites in future after learned this.For example, they can get both knowledge practically and thoerytically and this may helps them for better oppourtunites also they can experience it.Another benefit is gaining valuable international experience, such as traditional and culture.These can help students learn a new experience about life of different nation, which is not possible in their nation by doing a work placement.

However, There are some disadvantges to consider.The biggest concern is different language and they can face problem,lack of interaction face to face with teachers and classmates.For example, they are not familier with language which makes them hard to understand about courses.Additionally, total expanses such as university fee,tution fee and living cost can interrupt the learning process.For instance, many students in foregin strggule to pay due to lack of money.

In coclusion, While learning abroad has certain drawbacks such as,differet language and total expanses.Its benefits in terms of developing practical skills and gain valuable international experience are more significant.Therefore i beleive the advantages of studying abroad clearly outweigh disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, and presents a clear position. The writer introduces relevant ideas, such as practical skills and international experience, while also acknowledging drawbacks like language barriers and financial expenses. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the explanation of practical skills remains vague, stating only that learners can get hands-on skills and theoretical knowledge without providing specific examples or deep extension. While a clear stand is maintained throughout, the supporting arguments require further elaboration and more precise real-world examples to reach a higher band. Consequently, the response satisfies the requirements for Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas from introduction to body paragraphs and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, separating the advantages, disadvantages, and the final stance. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally faulty or mechanical. The writer relies on basic cohesive devices like 'One of the major advantages', 'Another benefit', and 'However', but some transitions are abrupt or awkward. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where pronouns like 'These' lack precise antecedents. Furthermore, punctuation and spacing errors around conjunctions disrupt the flow. Overall, the organizational structure is apparent, but the execution of cohesive ties points clearly to a Band 6 level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'undergratues', 'international experience', and 'financial expenses'. However, there are frequent spelling errors ('undergratues', 'abroad' misspelled as 'aboard', 'oppourtunites', 'thoerytically', 'expanses', 'foregin', 'strggule', 'differet', 'beleive') and instances of awkward word choice and collocation. Phrases like 'courses should be required some time spend' and 'experience it' demonstrate limitations in lexical control. While the meaning is generally communicated, the high frequency of spelling and word-formation errors prevents the response from achieving a higher score. Therefore, a Band 5.0 is awarded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'While this approach have some disadvantages, i strongly believed that advantages are greater...'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('approach have', 'advantages are... because it helps'), missing articles, and incorrect prepositions. Punctuation and capitalization are also problematic, including lowercase 'i', missing spaces after commas and periods, and comma splices. While some basic structures are correct, the frequent occurrence of structural and grammatical errors causes some difficulty for the reader and places the response firmly at Band 5.0.

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