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)

With modernized academic facilities, universities are considering to include a obligatory work placement or a study period in a different nation for their undergrade participants. Considering this phenomenon, it offers several advantageous factors, as well as, certain possible drawbacks. In forthcomings paragraph, my position elaborated with reasoning and relavant examples.

Looking at the bright side, the idea of a student studying abroad or working while studying sounds great, as that means the young learners will obtain exprience which will be useful in biulding their confidence. Their communication skills will potientially increase as a result of the new environment .

On the contrary, few detrimental aspects are there to this notion. The foremost one, is pressure. A proportion of academic participants may not be able to bear the pressure that might come. Apart from that, there is insecurities. Students who are introvert have higher chances of not adapting to a new environment which could eventually lead to mental health disturbance, such as depression.

In essence, it appears that the merits here outweight the drawbacks. Although, the negative factors that may occur should not be overlooked. In my standpoint, the undergraduates will get to be more pragmatic if universities include this programme.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt only partially, and it suffers from a significant drawback in length as it contains only 200 words, falling 50 words short of the 250-word minimum requirement. While the writer attempts to discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad or doing a work placement, the ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on benefits mentions building confidence and communication skills briefly without offering detailed explanations or concrete examples. Furthermore, the position is somewhat unclear and formulaic in the introductory and concluding paragraphs. To reach a higher band, the writer must meet the minimum word count and extend their ideas with fully supported arguments and specific, relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays an overall coherent arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate different points, such as the bright side in the second paragraph and the detrimental aspects in the third. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is not always clear, as seen in transitions like 'On the contrary, few detrimental aspects are there to this notion' and 'In essence, it appears that the merits here outweight the drawbacks'. To progress further, the writer should employ a wider and more natural range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother logical progression between sentences and paragraphs without relying on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'obligatory', 'phenomenon', and 'pragmatic'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and spelling that cause some difficulty for the reader. Examples include 'undergrade participants' instead of undergraduates, 'relavant' instead of relevant, 'exprience' instead of experience, 'biulding' instead of building, and 'potientially' instead of potentially. To achieve a higher score, the student needs to expand their lexical repertoire, use words with greater precision regarding collocation, and improve spelling accuracy to ensure clear communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay uses a limited range of sentence structures, featuring a mix of simple sentences and flawed attempts at complex ones. Frequent grammatical errors are present, including issues with verb complementation ('are considering to include'), article usage ('In forthcomings paragraph'), prepositions ('in my standpoint'), and subject-verb agreement or phrasing ('there is insecurities'). While these errors rarely completely obscure the core meaning, they occur frequently and cause difficulty for the reader. To improve in this criterion, the writer should work on mastering complex sentence formations, ensuring correct verb patterns after modal or cognitive verbs, and paying closer attention to plurals and article consistency.

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

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