Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Universties plays a vital role in our education. Some people think that all institutions undergraduate courses should need to spent a short period of time in foreign countries. While other argue that the students should given a opportunity to do work in placement. The advantages of this statement outwiegh the disadvantages.

To begin with, today we are living in a modern era of information technologies. The people are more educated as compare to the past. The universities should need to focus on the practical studies more as compared to theoratical studies. The institutions should need to sent their students to the foriegn countries for a short period of time. The big advantge of this purpose is that the modern labs are avilable in the foriegn countries where the students get a lot of experience related to their desire field. Second advantage is that when a student go to abroad for short time he feel relax and becomes more confident. After seeing thier culture,environment and education system. The other benefit is that when these students achieve their goals in real life and they must try to make their universties more modern like western institutions.

Furthermore, the one disadvantage of this purpose is that the students lose thier focus on study. When a student enter the other country for a short period then he wants to take part in the other activities instead of their study. There he try to visit the famous places of that country and also try to spent time with thier family members who are already there. So these are the activities that the students must try in other country during their short period of time.

To sum up, I think the advantages of this statement are more in numbers than the drawbacks. The students become enrgetic,confident and more competitve when they go to the foriegn country for thier higher study.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the prompt regarding whether studying abroad or doing work placements should be included in undergraduate courses, and takes a clear position that the advantages outweighing the disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is limited and somewhat repetitive. For instance, the discussion on the benefits of foreign study touches on modern labs and confidence, but remains underdeveloped. Similarly, the disadvantages focus narrowly on students getting distracted from studying. While all parts of the task are addressed, the arguments lack depth and extension, aligning best with Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay is divided into paragraphs, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, which provides a basic overall arrangement. However, logical progression is often disrupted by abrupt transitions and a lack of smooth cohesive devices. Phrases like 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'To sum up' are used, but internal cohesion within paragraphs is faulty. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'when these students achieve their goals in real life', which feels disconnected from the preceding sentences. Paragraphing is attempted but ideas within paragraphs lack tight organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The lexical resource is limited and basic. The student uses common vocabulary such as 'vital role', 'modern era', 'education system', and 'famous places'. There are frequent spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'Universties' instead of 'Universities', 'theoratical' instead of 'theoretical', 'foriegn' instead of 'foreign', 'advantge' instead of 'advantage', and 'avlable' instead of 'available'. These noticeable errors and limited range restrict the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response exhibits a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on simple sentences and basic sentence patterns. Attempts at complex sentences often contain severe grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('Universties plays', 'the students should given a opportunity'), incorrect modal usage ('should need to spent'), and tense inconsistencies. Frequent errors in grammar and punctuation cause constant difficulty for the reader and obscure meaning in several places.

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.