Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-25

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)

In the past, when students were studying in university, they do not have any opportunity for abroad study or much availability of work placement. At present, students can easily access all these facilities. Considering positive and negative sides, it is clear that advantages get more weightage.

My opinion has been influenced by some factors. The most noticeable is that meeting new peoples. This view exists as studying in abroad can give opportunity for networking with international students as well as professors, who are experts in different domains. As a result, students can be able to understand new technology, culture and trend. In addition, we cannot ignore the reality that facilities can differ from their existing university.

Furthermore, the fact that work placement provision can give hands on practical experience to students, this thing also takes into account in order to bolster my stand. The hypothesis is based on the idea that practical knowledge of specific domain in which undergraduates already studying helps them to give more confidence. Therefore, they can find carrier opportunity in the same field. Even more, it is seen that final year undergraduate students can also get preplacement offer in multinational companies. This reason is buoyed in the fact that students who have technical skills and perform well in extracurricular activities got the first chance to select in good organization. Therefore, collages have to include this work placement opportunity by giving them internship opportunities in different domains.

However, the reality is that, if collage will give this kind of opportunities to students, then they will not more focused in term studies and it cause even lost the chance of getting placements from university due to, not falling in minimum selection criteria.

To sum up, undergraduates who have ability to manage multitasking can opt for this opportunity and build a good carrier, so that all university have to add these courses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of including studying abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, maintaining a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Ideas are introduced, such as networking and practical experience, but their development is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on work placements mentions 'hands on practical experience' and 'preplacement offer' in multinational companies, which touches upon relevant points, but the reasoning remains generalised. The negative aspect is briefly touched upon in the fourth paragraph regarding students losing focus, though it is underdeveloped. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs supporting the writer's stance, a counter-argument, and a brief conclusion. However, cohesion is often faulty or mechanical. The writer relies heavily on transitional phrases like 'Furthermore, the fact that', 'The hypothesis is based on the idea that', and 'This reason is buoyed in the fact that', which can feel unnatural and awkward. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'this thing also takes into account', which disrupts the flow. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion requires better control to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'weightage', 'networking', 'extracurricular activities', and 'multinational companies'. However, there are notable word-choice errors, inaccurate collocations, and spelling mistakes throughout the text. Examples include 'studying in abroad' (instead of 'studying abroad'), 'carrier opportunity' (instead of 'career opportunity'), and 'collage' instead of 'college'. Additionally, phrases like 'get more weightage' and 'lost the chance' show a lack of precision. While communication is generally maintained, these lexical inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting complex structures such as conditional clauses ('if collage will give this kind of opportunities to students, then they will not more focused'). However, control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as tense and auxiliary verb misuse ('students... they do not have', 'undergraduates already studying helps them'), incorrect prepositions ('studying in abroad'), and word form errors ('not more focused', 'it cause even lost'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent errors in complex sentences constrain the score to a 5.0.

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