Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
Recently, there is an increasing debate about the system of corses in universties, wheather it should include a part where learners study abroad or doing a work placement because the benefits of this trend, or should not doing it due to the issue that come after this way.
One major advantage of this trend, is that make pupils gain skills from several sources and not just from the formal education in the classes. Moreover, this way enable undergraduates to acheive skills in different aspects such as hand-on skills that they cannot learn it from school. Furthermore, this strategy enhace youngers descovring several cultures when they studying abroad and get ideas about how people live in different areas in ths world.
On the other hand, altough this trend has many merits, it has also some disadvantages, one main issue is that appliying this way make the formal education longer because of the time spent on doing work placement or studying abroad. Another problem deserve to suggest, is that doing these activities coast so much money for the learners.
In my opinion, I believe that these activities deserve to be on the courses even with the problems that come after it, because the benefits are outweigh the issues. However, this does not meant that we can just ignore the problems of this trend.
to sump up, spent time for studying abroad or doing work placement is something beneficial for the undergraduatesn, but we must find some strategies to reduce the problems of this trend.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, and states a clear personal position in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is limited and repetitive. For instance, the student mentions that learners gain skills from several sources, but this point lacks concrete expansion or specific examples. Similarly, the disadvantages of increased duration and financial cost are introduced but remain under-developed. While all parts of the task are addressed, the lack of fully elaborated arguments places this response firmly at Band 5.5, touching the border of Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The essay is organized into four paragraphs, showing an attempt at a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing both sides, and a conclusion. However, overall progression is hindered by awkward transitions and repetitive phrasing. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes inaccurately or mechanically, such as 'Furthermore, this strategy enhace youngers descovring' and 'Another problem deserve to suggest'. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within paragraphs suffers from run-on structures and unclear referencing. These issues demonstrate characteristics typical of a Band 5 performance.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, frequently reusing terms like 'trend', 'problem', and 'activities'. There are noticeable spelling and word formation errors throughout the text, such as 'corses' for courses, 'universties', 'wheather', 'acheive', 'hand-on' instead of hands-on, 'enhace', 'descovring', 'appliying', and 'coast' instead of cost. These errors occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited lexical range suitable for a Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'Recently, there is an increasing debate about the system of corses... wheather it should include... or should not doing it', 'one major advantage of this trend, is that make pupils gain skills', and 'the benefits are outweigh the issues'. Subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and prepositional usage are frequently problematic, leading to frequent errors that cause difficulty for the reader, aligning with a Band 5 score.
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