Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28

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 is often argued that every undergraduate courses in universities should keep a time peroid alloted for studying abroad or doing a work placement.

In my perspective,this has both advantages and disadvantages at the same time. However, I strongly believe that its advantages would outweigh its disadvantages.

To begin with,when undergraduate courses are vast including study trips or working placements abroad, the students get finiest field exposure to varied domains. As a result, they not only gain practical skills but also it polishes their resume professionally. Moreover, by interacting and dealing with foreigner clients , they develop communication and verbal professionalism which is crucial in the work environment.They get exposed to different kinds of work pressure which prepares them to cope up with work dilemmas without stress. For example, universities should convert the regular summer internship programme into an abroad study workactivity which will help students to accomplish their academic goals in a more valuable way.

Furthermore, there are few disadvantages which involves disturbances in the flow of studies. Students tend to focus more on a single field rather than other essential courses due to lack of sufficient hours. As a consequence, they are unable to master any of the domain perfectly. For instance, students in many universities tend to neglect their studies once they are into upgrading their resume academic content.This proves its advantages outweighs its disadvantages more.

In conclusion, all university should involve courses that have time for abroad studies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task, presenting a clear position throughout that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Ideas are extended, such as discussing practical skills, resume enhancement, and workplace pressure. However, the response falls short of the required minimum word count, containing only 242 words instead of the mandated 250. This negative length constraint breach requires a penalty under Task Achievement. Furthermore, some arguments in the third paragraph regarding academic disruptions are slightly underdeveloped and repetitive. Examples are provided, but overall development lacks depth in places, pulling the score down to Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a logical overall progression with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices are utilized to connect ideas, such as "To begin with," "As a result," and "Furthermore." However, paragraphing is somewhat weak, with the third paragraph combining distinct points about disadvantages and a summary-like conclusion sentence. Additionally, spacing issues and punctuation errors (e.g., missing spaces after commas, such as "perspective,this") detract from the overall flow. Referencing is occasionally unclear, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Coherence and cohesion are judged at a solid Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common items like "professionalism," "accomplish," and "academic goals." However, there are noticeable word choice errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as "finiest field exposure," "foreigner clients," and "upgrading their resume academic content." Spelling errors also appear, such as "peroid." While communication is not severely impeded, these inaccuracies and limited precision prevent the lexical score from rising above Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement (e.g., "every undergraduate courses... should keep") and punctuation/spacing issues (missing spaces after commas and periods). Other awkward phrasings like "all university should involve courses" demonstrate limited control over singular/plural noun forms. Despite these errors, the meaning is generally decipherable, aligning well with the Band 5.5 descriptors.

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.