Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The proposal to mandate all university undergraduate courses to include work placement or teaching them about studying abroad has more advantages than its disadvantages. I will prove my thesis the following lines.

First of all, we are living in an era where inflation rate is increasing day by day. This is not due to less education but because of lack of awareness of job market. Therefore it is mandatory to have work placements. They will not only increase their awareness, but will also add to their experience. Some of students who freshly graduated from colleges or universities are still unable to find suitable jobs because only study cannot provide them with job placements. If they would have work placements along with their course, they would have better understanding of job market and even if u get a job, it is very hard to adjust to the working environment because it can be stressful sometimes. So it is better to have knowledge of workplace before.

Page 2

Moving to my second point which is studying abroad. There are many students in our country who has much more ability than what they are studying. Like the students from low backgrounds are exceptionally talented and intelligent in some cases. But they do not have enough resource to get the information about scholarships that they could have get by their talent and performance. So if the workshops will be conducted on topic like studying in foreign countries, scholarships and work placements, this will do a lot better for students rather than studying their courses only.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the prompt regarding whether the advantages of mandating study abroad or work placements outweigh the disadvantages. A position is stated in the introduction, claiming the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and shifts focus midway. While the first body paragraph discusses work placements in relation to the job market and inflation, the second body paragraph diverges into discussing scholarships and workshops for low-income students rather than fully developing the pros and cons of studying abroad as required by the prompt. Furthermore, the counter-argument (disadvantages) is largely ignored rather than weighed against the advantages. Consequently, the task is addressed only partially, aligning with the Band 5 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay has some basic organisation, opening with an introductory statement and utilising paragraph breaks. However, there is no clear overall progression of ideas across the text. The transition between paragraphs is abrupt, particularly in the second paragraph where the narrative jumps from work placements to studying abroad and then unexpectedly includes a reference to 'Page 2'. Cohesive devices are used rather mechanically and sometimes inappropriately, such as 'Moving to my second point which is studying abroad' rather than forming a cohesive link. Pronoun referencing is also occasionally unclear, as seen with 'Some of students' and shifting pronouns. Paragraphing is present but under-developed, leading to a score in the Band 5 range.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'inflation rate', 'job market', and 'scholarships'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'teaching them about studying abroad' instead of studying abroad itself, and 'low backgrounds' instead of low-income backgrounds. Phrasing such as 'if u get a job' relies on informal shorthand, and repetition of words like 'students', 'work placements', and 'study' restricts lexical variety. These errors and limitations cause occasional strain for the reader, placing the lexical resource at a Band 5 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, such as conditional clauses ('If they would have work placements...'), these are frequently faulty in construction. Grammatical errors are noticeable throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('There are many students... who has much more ability'), missing articles ('lack of awareness of job market'), and incorrect tense usage ('that they could have get'). Punctuation and word form errors also occur, which can cause some difficulty for the reader and prevent the text from reaching a higher band score.

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

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