Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

It is true that studying abroad or work placement during undergrad is a prominent discussed topic. While there are several drawbacks, I strongly believe that its advantages would outweigh the disadvantages.

There are a number of reasons that provide significant benefits for students. One primary reason is that studying abroad would create vast career opportunities as well as a better lifestyle. For instance, many would be able to learn how developed countries evolved day by day to compete with other well-established country. Another compelling reason might be that it ensures the students and their family a secured life. This is because low rank countries can't be able to provide protection as well as lots of political issues provide unstable situations. One possible example is when the authority changes, the economical imbalance introduce lots of problems in schooling. Furthermore, the government can be benefited by remittance, if the students find their desired job and send back the money to their native country. Therefore, studying abroad during the undergrad paves the path to unlock potential of students.

Despite the above arguments, there are various drawbacks to formulate the period of time in schooling. Firstly, the students may not be that much skilfull to go to any workplace regarding the cou. Additionally, lots of jobs requried specific experience for which the student may get any internship opportunities. For instance, to join any industry or company, relevant project work knowledge needed. Secondly, time plays a significant roles here as students had to develop their skills within less period of time. Furthermore, to send students in abroad need fundings which is a challenging task for the universities.

To sum sup, although there are issues related to time periods and financial crisis, these can be overcome by charging the curriculum and taking financial support from government.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of including studying abroad or a work placement in undergraduate courses, and states a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. However, the development of ideas in the body paragraphs is occasionally muddled and difficult to follow, particularly when discussing political issues and economic imbalance in relation to studying abroad. While the prompt asks for views on advantages versus disadvantages, some arguments lack clear focus and logical extension. Nevertheless, all parts of the task are addressed, earning a Band 6.0 under the task achievement criteria.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay is divided into an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion, showing an overall logical arrangement. Paragraphing is generally utilized correctly to separate advantages from disadvantages. However, cohesion within paragraphs is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, transitional phrases like 'Furthermore' and 'Secondly' are used, but referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'to formulate the period of time in schooling' or 'the students may not be that much skilfull'). The progression of ideas is occasionally interrupted by vague referencing and abrupt transitions, which places this text solidly at Band 5.5 to 6.0. Given the general readability, a Band 6.0 is appropriate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic discussion, including terms like 'prominent discussed topic', 'career opportunities', and 'financial crisis'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices throughout the text, such as 'skilfull', 'requried', 'economical imbalance', and 'charging the curriculum' (instead of changing). Spelling and morphological errors ('fundings', 'skilfull') also occur. While the vocabulary is adequate to convey the general meaning, the presence of these errors and limitations restricts the lexical score to a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'While there are several drawbacks, I strongly believe that...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors that occasionally impede the reader's understanding. Examples include 'low rank countries can't be able to provide protection', 'to send students in abroad need fundings', and 'students had to develop their skills within less period of time'. Punctuation and verb-form inconsistencies are also present. These frequent errors place the grammar performance at Band 5.0.

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