Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

All the universities undergraduating students should spend some time studying abroad or they should do a work. I would argue that benefits of this development outweigh drawbacks.

First and formost, there are multiple advantages of giving a chance to students to study abroad or to do some work.

Such as, it contributes to increase the explore of the students. As, students interact with other individuals in other parts of the world or at their work place, consequently, they can better understand the culture of an area. In the long term, it would be very beneficial for them as they will be having a basic knowledge regarding their field and work. On the other, hand if students already have spent some time regarding their work, in resulting their chances to be promoted will considerably rise. For instance, many students do internships during their studies, once they go in their relevent fields, they understand the work from their day first.

On the other hand, it also has some disadvantages. Some students belong to middle class families and they can not

afford to go to out of the country or do not have much resources to do internships without paying. As a result,,

most students take loan from bank or from their relatives and causes stress in them. As they also have to return the loan. For example, many students take educationl loan for their higher studies and remain stressful to return it.

To conclude, I acknowledge that moving to foreigh country to gain some experience have some disadvantages, but in my

perspective its advantages outweigh disadvantages. Most imortantly, it gives opportunity to make bonds and relationsships with other people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, and presents a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Ideas are introduced and supported with examples, such as gaining practical work experience and facing financial constraints. However, some arguments remain slightly under-developed and rely on generalisations, such as the discussion around student loans and cultural exposure. The writer outlines a clear position throughout, aligning with the criteria for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay is divided into a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing both sides, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts, such as 'First and formost', 'On the other, hand', and 'To conclude'. However, there are some mechanical and inappropriate uses of cohesive links, like starting sentences with 'Such as,' or 'As, students interact...', which disrupts the natural flow of information. Paragraphing is present and logically separates the contrasting views, but referencing is occasionally faulty, leading to an overall coherence score of 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting less common items such as 'undergraduating students', 'relevent fields', and 'foreigh country'. However, there are frequent noticeable spelling and word choice errors, including 'formost', 'explore' instead of 'exposure', 'relevent', and 'foreigh'. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0, as the inaccuracies interfere with precision and naturalness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over structure. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'All the universities undergraduating students', punctuation errors like unnecessary commas ('As a result,,'), and awkward phrasing like 'in resulting their chances'. While the meaning remains mostly clear to the reader, the density of grammatical slips places this response firmly at Band 5.0.

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

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