Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-02

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)

A lot of universities thing that all the undergraduate courses should spent some time in studying abroad or doing work placement.

In this first passage I am going to tell you the benefits of studying abroad or doing work placement. To begin with, studying abroad or from studying different institutes give you a lot of knowledge and you get the opporunity to learn from different experienced teachers. Also you when you meet new people from different backgrounds you can learn more useful skills from them realated to your studies however you can make new friends who will help you in future according to your career. Moreover then you doing some work placement it gives you significant facilies in future when you want to join a company or start your own business while the others benefits of work placement are huge; For example you can earn money through it and that money will going to help you to pay your bills and may cover your accommodation as well while doing work palcement you can built some connections with the people who are already in that feild where you want to go in future.

However studying abroad or doing work placement are contains some disadvantages as well. when you studying abroad you need to show proof of funds to that university that you can cover your living and studying expence easily and you can focus on studying without and problem. When you do work placement you do not have much time to focus on your studies and you may fail in university.

Overall that I strongly believe that the benefits of studying abroad and doing work palcement has more benefits than disadvantages and also it gives student a chance to see how real world works and help them to face challenges of life also it teachs how to deal in presure conditions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad and doing work placements, and a clear position is maintained throughout. However, the development of ideas is uneven. While some points, such as financial benefits and networking opportunities, receive some elaboration, others remain under-developed or simplistic. For instance, the mention of gaining knowledge from different teachers is stated rather than fully explored with relevant examples or extended reasoning. The overall stance is evident by the conclusion, but the lack of fully extended supporting arguments prevents a higher rating.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a discernible introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is frequently mechanical and sometimes faulty. The writer relies heavily on basic transitional phrases like 'To begin with', 'Also', and 'Moreover', which can feel repetitive. Furthermore, referencing and logical progression are occasionally disrupted by run-on sentences containing multiple ideas linked loosely together without adequate separation, such as the lengthy sentence detailing work placement benefits. Paragraphing is attempted, but ideas within the paragraphs could be grouped and linked more fluidly to ensure a clearer progression of thought.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating a sufficient range to communicate basic ideas, but it lacks precision and variety. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'significant facilies' and 'accommodation', but these attempts are accompanied by notable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and word form, such as 'thing' instead of 'think', 'opporunity', 'realated', 'feild', 'expence', and 'presure'. These lexical errors and awkward collocations occasionally create strain for the reader, though they do not completely impede communication. To improve, the writer needs to expand their control of less common lexical items and pay closer attention to standard spelling and word formation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt at varied structures. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. The text contains issues with verb tenses and forms, such as 'money will going to help', subject-verb agreement problems like 'universities thing', and missing or incorrect articles and prepositions. Many sentences are overly long and lack appropriate punctuation, leading to structural confusion. While the errors do not entirely prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they occur frequently enough across different sentence types to restrict the score to this level. Greater control over complex clause structures and basic agreement rules is needed.

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