Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In the modern world, majority students prefer to learn some extra skill than their academics. All colleges should add a particular time for learning foreign language or doing a job in their related field in the curriculum of undergraduate students. This essay will articulate the bright side and down side of the given statement.

The predominant benefit is that, utilizing time on learning other language or doing a part time work can assist any students. To be more precise, majority learners are facing a competition or having a struggle when they are searching for any job. However, having some experience during college time can help any students to get a knowledge about how the industry is working and what type of skills are required for getting a job. For instance, when I was in a college, I used to do an internship at near by company and that experience which I got helped me during my job placement. As a result, by having a knowledge of industry at early or learning any foreign language can help to achieve goal in a rapid manner.

However, there are negative effects of the nation, students may losing interest in their academic. To further elaborates this, there is a possibility that leaners utilize their time on only studying about other countries and its languages. Therefore pupils might lose a focus on their academic subject and it can impact on the academic result. To exemplify, one of my friend got failed in the last year of the college because he was paying attention on only learning other language. Consequently, Although having a knowledge about other skill may be helpful, too much focus on that might be detrimental for students.

To recapitulate, I firmly believe that advantages like complete their dream quickly and help to find job would outweigh the disadvantages such a bad academic results.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting arguments on both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, and provides a clear position in the introduction and conclusion. However, the ideas are developed with varying degrees of success. For instance, the advantage regarding industry knowledge is supported by a personal example, but the explanation of the disadvantages remains somewhat repetitive and relies on vague generalisations, such as pupils losing focus on their academic results. Some supporting points are under-developed or lack extension, which places the response securely in this category rather than a higher level where all ideas are fully elaborated and supported throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing both sides, and a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate the main themes. However, cohesion within and between sentences is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The writer relies heavily on basic transitional markers like 'To be more precise', 'However', and 'To exemplify'. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as pronoun usage and transitions like 'To further elaborates this', which disrupts the natural flow and logical progression of ideas, preventing the text from achieving a more fluid and sophisticated level of cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'predominant', 'internship', and 'detrimental'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and word form throughout the text. Examples include 'majority students' instead of 'the majority of students', 'utilizing time' instead of 'spending time', 'near by company' (spelled as two words), and 'bad academic results'. While these inaccuracies do not seriously impede communication, they reflect a restricted control of lexical features that prevents the writing from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting complex structures such as conditional and concessive clauses (e.g., 'Consequently, Although having a knowledge about other skill may be helpful...'). However, there are frequent errors in grammar, articles, prepositions, and verb forms that occur alongside correct structures. Notable errors include 'a competition' instead of 'competition', 'help any students to get a knowledge' instead of 'gain knowledge', 'when I was in a college', 'one of my friend got failed', and plural-singular agreement issues like 'complete their dream'. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, though communication is generally maintained.

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