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)

It often agrued that all unversity students required a period of time either studing abroad or compeleting a work placement . Although we know its could be difficult financial for it . but the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages.

Most important point is that student can get pratcial experiences about it . Nowdays, we know that only acedemic knowledge not helpful for future. Student need to get work placement to do practical work . This could help students to do work hard and also know the importances of time in life . For example , Charted accountant student gain theory knowledge in unversity but if they doing work under CA than they able to use know in real with the of study.

Studing abroad also play important factor in student life . Studing in foreign countries , student can need to adapated different culture and also need to become indepedent . In forgein study provide more good classes structure and they always for focus in practical knowledge. They also need to learn more different lanuages and improve communciation skills . This could be more important in today generation to make job market.

However, there are some disadvantages also occured. Studing abroad can be expensive , because student need to pay accomodation , travelling charges and living expenses . Similarly, unpaid work placement can create financial pressure, particularly for studentd from low-income families.

Nevertheless, unversities can not able to provide free living accomodation to student and work placement companies can not able to give salary to student to live easily.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

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 states a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Ideas are introduced and supported with some explanations, such as mentioning practical experience and financial burdens. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat general and lacks depth. For instance, the example of a chartered accountant is brief and lacks full elaboration. The response touches upon the core prompt well, but due to limited development and superficial arguments in places, it aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a discernible introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Ideas generally progress from advantages to disadvantages. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, with some single-sentence paragraphs appearing at the end of the text. Furthermore, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty or mechanical, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as starting a sentence with 'Although we know its could be difficult financial for it . but the advantages...' which creates a fragmented structure and incorrect punctuation. Because of these noticeable mechanical issues in cohesion and paragraphing, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic ideas regarding studying abroad and work placements. However, there are numerous spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'agrued', 'unversity', 'studing', 'compeleting', 'pratcial', 'acedemic', 'Charted', 'adapated', 'indepedent', 'forgein', 'lanuages', and 'accomodation'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent and restrict the lexical score. The range of vocabulary is limited, and attempts at less common items result in word choice and spelling inaccuracies, placing this response firmly at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical accuracy is very weak. There are frequent errors in basic sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions throughout the text. Examples include 'It often agrued that all unversity students required', 'only acedemic knowledge not helpful', 'if they doing work under CA than they able to use know in real', and 'universities can not able to provide'. These persistent errors cause frequent strain for the reader and demonstrate a lack of control over basic grammatical rules. Consequently, the grammar corresponds to a Band 4.5 or rounded to 5.0, but given the frequency of errors, a 4.5 is not a standard IELTS increment, so a 5.0 reflects the band where errors frequently cause difficulty.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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