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 recent year the issue of wheather undergraduate corses should include studing abroad or workplacement has become a topic of considerable debate. It is widely believed that all student should much experience.While some people argue that this idea have some disadvantage. I firmly believed that the advantages of this approch outweigh the disadvantages. this essay will discuss the key reason for my view.

To begin with, one of the most compelling reasons to support this opinion is that work placements and studying abroad provide practical skills. This is mainly because university education is often too theoretical, and students need real-world experience to get a job. In other words, work placement allows students to apply what they have learned in a real company.A clear example of this can be seen in Pakistan, where many engineering students get a job in the same company where they did their internship. Therefore, it is evident that practical experience is extremely important.

In addition to that, another equally important factor is that studying abroad helps students to develop culturally and personally. It is a well-known fact that living in a foreign country teaches independence, language skills, and cultural understanding. Moreover, students become more open-minded and adaptable.For instance, a student from Wazirabad who studies in the UK for 6 months will learn how to live alone and communicate with people from different backgrounds. This, in turn, shapes their personality for life.Thus, personal growth plays a crucial role in education.

In conclusion, I strongly agree that the advantages of including studying abroad or work placement in all courses outweigh the disadvantages.This is because it offers a wide range of advantages, including better job opportunities and immense personal growth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages, ultimately presenting a clear and well-supported personal position. The introduction outlines the writer's stance, and the body paragraphs present relevant reasons, such as gaining practical skills through work placements and fostering personal development through studying abroad. Ideas are generally well-extended with relevant examples, such as the reference to engineering students in Pakistan and a student studying in the UK. However, the exploration of the disadvantages is rather limited, as the prompt asks whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and the negative side is only briefly acknowledged in the introduction without a dedicated counter-argument paragraph. Despite this minor imbalance in idea development, the overall task response fulfills the requirements for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is arranged coherently with a recognizable introduction, two distinct body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct main ideas. Cohesive devices are employed to signal logical progression, such as 'To begin with', 'In addition to that', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion'. However, there are instances where referencing and cohesion are somewhat mechanical or repetitive. Furthermore, punctuation and sentence boundary errors—such as running sentences together or disjointed punctuation ('disadvantage. I firmly believed')—disrupt the smooth flow of the text. Overall, the organizational structure is adequate for a Band 6.0 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases like 'practical skills', 'real-world experience', 'open-minded and adaptable', and 'cultural understanding'. However, there are several noticeable spelling errors ('recent year' instead of 'recent years', 'wheather' instead of 'whether', 'corses' instead of 'courses', 'studing' instead of 'studying', 'workplacement' instead of 'work placement', 'approch' instead of 'approach') and word choice inaccuracies ('all student should much experience'). These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5, reflecting a mix of appropriate vocabulary and frequent surface-level spelling slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent throughout the text. There are numerous basic errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('this idea have some disadvantage'), tense misuse ('I firmly believed' instead of 'I firmly believe'), and missing articles. Punctuation errors are also prominent, such as sentence fragments and incorrect full stops within complex sentences ('adaptable.For instance'). While the meaning remains clear despite these frequent errors, the density of grammatical slips prevents the response from achieving a higher band, placing it firmly at Band 5.0.

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

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