Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-01

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 4.5)

There are some disadvantages associated with this approach. The main drawback is that some student are not able to pay expense of study tour. This is because student that from a middle class can not manage their expense in aboard.In addition, the environment are totally different it take a long time to adjust in new environment. For example,when university involve a period to go abaord students that can not manage their expense . Another possible disadvantage is student pay less attension to their study they divert from their studies, which may effect on student pysical and mental health.As a result, their studies disturb and also chances of semester drop.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

First, it must be noted that the response is severely underdeveloped and falls significantly short of the minimum word count of 250 words, stopping at only 109 words. Because of this extreme brevity, the task is only addressed partially. The writer attempts to present disadvantages such as financial constraints and the psychological impact of adjusting to a new environment, but these ideas remain limited and under-developed. There is no clear position presented throughout, and the advantages side of the prompt is entirely neglected. To reach a higher level, the response would need to be expanded significantly to properly cover all parts of the task with fully extended and supported ideas for both advantages and disadvantages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response demonstrates some basic organization, but there is no clear overall progression of ideas. Paragraphing is missing or ignored, as the entire text is lumped into a single block of text rather than being structured into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are basic, inadequate, and repetitive, with phrases like 'In addition' and 'As a result' functioning mechanically. Furthermore, referencing is frequently unclear, such as the sudden shift in pronouns and truncated thoughts like 'students that can not manage their expense.' To improve, the writer must implement a proper paragraph structure and use a wider, more natural range of cohesive links to guide the reader logically through the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey basic concepts related to financial problems and studying abroad, such as 'disadvantages,' 'expense,' and 'environment.' However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and word form that cause difficulty for the reader, including phrases like 'pay expense of study tour,' 'student that from a middle class,' and 'their studies disturb.' Spelling and morphological errors are also present, such as 'attension' and 'aboard' instead of 'abroad.' To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider and more precise range of lexical items, ensuring correct word forms, natural collocations, and accurate spelling throughout.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a very limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences, and attempts at more complex structures are frequently faulty. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that can cause difficulty for the reader. Examples include missing articles ('some student are not able', 'in new environment'), pluralization and subject-verb agreement errors ('the environment are totally different', 'student pay less attension'), and missing verbs or incomplete clauses ('which may effect on student pysical and mental health' and 'when university involve a period to go abaord students that can not manage their expense'). To improve, the writer needs to demonstrate a greater variety of sentence forms while greatly increasing control over basic grammatical patterns, articles, and prepositions.

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

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