Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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)

All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement has become more common in recent years. Although it offers several advantages as it can provide students with valuable pratical experience as well as students will develop personal skills it also have some disadvantages but advanatages overweigh it.

To begin with, one major advantage of all university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement as it develop students personal skills as well as pratical experience. This is because the students get real time experience and also develop communication skills because the can intrat with different kinds of people from different locations. For example, A student who have complete education in abroad or work placement have a skills more because he work in different teams and each team consists of different type of persons. As a result, that helps to get improve communiaction skills,independent and improve his ability that compare to others.

However, one significant disadvantage is studying abroad is more expensive. This is because, every person cannot afford that college fees as well as living expansions. For instance, in other countries the room rents are too high compare to our country and food to be different and prices unfair fo us and colllege fees, exam fee are to high. As a result, it causes a student or family more stress and some times its effort education of students.

However, I believe that thia advantages outweigh the disadvantages because developing personal skills and experince get a student better chances in job roles and gain better packages makes his life better that disadvantage we can easily overcome in different way. so, I believe that advanatage overweigh and get good scope to person than disadvantage

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of including studying abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, ultimately taking a clear position that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on personal skills and practical experience is restated several times without deep extension. While the main points are relevant, they tend to over-generalise and lack concrete real-world examples, relying instead on vague assertions. This aligns well with the Band 5 descriptors, as the response addresses all parts of the task, but the development of ideas is limited and at times repetitive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays a basic structural framework with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, paragraphing is somewhat blurred, and the progression of ideas lacks smooth transitions. Cohesive devices are frequently repetitive or misused, such as the excessive reliance on 'This is because' and 'As a result'. Furthermore, referencing is unclear in places, particularly in the conclusion where sentences run together without adequate punctuation or logical signposting. While there is an overall attempt to organise the content, the mechanical and sometimes inaccurate use of cohesive devices places this response securely at Band 5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited range of vocabulary that is minimally adequate for the task. Words such as 'advantages', 'disadvantages', 'experience', and 'skills' are repeated frequently throughout the text. There are numerous word choice and collocation errors, such as 'pratical experience' (spelling and collocation), 'intrat' (interact), 'effort education' (affect education), and 'phia advantages' (these advantages). These lexical errors and limitations cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a vocabulary range typical of a Band 5 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response features a very limited range of grammatical structures. The majority of complex sentences attempted are faulty, plagued by run-on sentences, missing subjects, and incorrect verb forms. Examples include 'All university undergraduate courses should include... has become more common' and 'A student who have complete education in abroad or work placement have a skills more'. Punctuation is largely neglected, especially in the lengthy final paragraph, which creates severe readability issues. Frequent grammatical and mechanical errors heavily impede communication in places, warranting a Band 4.5 or 5.0; given the occasional successful simple sentence, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.