Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29

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 4.0)

Yes Undergraduate courses must include the separate period for studying abroad it gives alot advantages to students life. most of the graduate students after the graduation they just get a degree and set free, but universities don't ever bothered about most of the students's growth, skills to learn in real world. they should invest not just in lectures but real growth of students to give exposure of real work placement or they should provide at least last semester for studying abroad so they can learn how to cope with real world how to get the real job how to hunt different opportunities. The advantage is not only student's growth but also provide support and guidance. most of students after getting degree they just ended up in depression they can't understand how to do and what to do but what if in the undergraduate studies they have already exposure of studying abroad and real work place then after getting degree they don't have to worried about jobs but they want to learn how the jobs market place actually works.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages of studying abroad or doing work placements, taking a clear stance that universities should include them. However, the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, stopping at only 178 words. Due to this significant under-length, the ideas are noticeably under-developed, and the disadvantages mentioned in the prompt are largely ignored. While the writer touches on student growth and combating depression after graduation, the lack of sufficient extension and support limits the score for this criterion to Band 4.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The text suffers from poor paragraphing, as it consists of just two massive, run-on blocks of text without proper structural separation. Cohesive devices are minimal, repetitive, and occasionally inaccurate, relying heavily on simple conjunctions like 'and' or repetitive phrases. There is no clear overall progression of ideas, and referencing is frequently unclear, such as the ambiguous use of pronouns. These issues interrupt the logical flow of the argument, resulting in a score of Band 4.0 for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, with frequent reliance on everyday terms like 'lot', 'get', and 'things'. There are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'set free', 'don't ever bothered', and 'jobs market place'. Spelling and word formation are also problematic in places, such as 'alot' and 'students's'. The range of vocabulary is limited and minimally adequate for communicating basic ideas, but errors occasionally strain the reader's understanding, fitting the Band 4.0 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response exhibits a very limited range of sentence structures, dominated by simple and poorly controlled compound or run-on sentences lacking appropriate punctuation. There is a total absence of full stops in places where new sentences should begin, resulting in fragmented clause connections. Grammatical errors are frequent, including missing auxiliary verbs ('universities don't ever bothered'), incorrect prepositions, and tense inconsistencies. These errors cause frequent difficulty for the reader and reflect a Band 4.0 level.

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

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