Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-30

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)

recently, its becoming increasingly common that students go for semester excahnge programs and do internships or ork placement along with their degree. People often argyed that all university undergard courses should allocate the time period student spending in studing abroad or doing internships. This has numerous advantages, and in my opinion they are fairly outweighing its disadvanatges.

One of the most significant factor Of doing work placement or interships along side the degree, it not only gives us the practical insights of the degree, but also increase the valuable experience. THIS results in the enhncement of the required skills in that particular field.Apart from the practical side, it further teaches us the value of money, which is the core of persons finacial success. For instance, many IT companies visit top notch universities in the final year and offer them an internships to train the young minds.

Tne another paramount factor, many students go for semester change and cultural excahnge programs, in order to study in different countries. These excnahge programs enhance the confidence of undergraduate students and gives theman opportunity to interact with the students of different ethnicies. these experiences make them more adaptable to their environnmnet, teach them adjustment in unfavouable conditions and make them openminded to accept other people narratives. Furthermore, it strengthens their networks, communication and these skillsplay an extremely important role not only in kict start their careers but also in shaping their personalities.

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to gain some practical experience before graduation internships examples

study abroad aswell for work placement cultura;l excanhe programs for netwrorking, enhance the confidence

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages, ultimately taking a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Relevant ideas such as practical insights from work placements and cultural adaptability from study abroad programs are introduced. However, some ideas are left slightly under-developed, and the response trails off abruptly into a bulleted brainstorming outline at the end, which prevents higher-level development. The writer identifies the core of the prompt well and attempts to support their position with general examples like IT company recruitment. Overall, the response meets the baseline requirements for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the argument into introductory and body paragraphs. However, logical progression is hindered by frequent structural issues, lack of proper paragraphing in the final sections, and an unfinished conclusion that degrades into raw notes. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore' and 'Apart from the practical side' are used, but referencing is sometimes unclear, and punctuation or capitalization errors (such as 'THIS results') interrupt the flow. Paragraphing is insufficient as the text breaks down towards the end. This performance aligns with the Band 5.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for the academic prompt, using terms like 'practical insights', 'adaptable', and 'openminded'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'excahnge', 'argyed', 'undergard', 'orh placement', and 'finacial'. Less common lexical items are attempted but often marred by inaccurate spelling or collocation. While communication is not severely impeded and the range is minimally adequate, these persistent lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capacity for subordination and relative clauses (e.g., 'programs that enhance the confidence...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('its becoming', 'People often argyed'), tense inconsistency, and awkward phrasing ('they are fairly outweighing its disadvanatges'). Punctuation and capitalization are also erratic. Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, but simple sentences are generally understandable, the grammar fits the Band 5.0 criteria.

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