Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The abroad are studying all university undergraduate courses a period of time spent to do the part time job which is the disadvantages or advantages. The are several advantages to work placement so to do know the culture and help us the personal expenses. If the abroad is part time working the more opportunity to grew up personal skills and culture are more knows.Doing the work are more explorer and chalanging faces.More benefits to work placement are to easy pay the fee of university That does not do the help of parents. Disadvantages to work placement are facing to do not sufficient time to study and the far of family because the face to problem. More facing the chalnging and problems so the placement work are to time and then focus on their study so two work study and placement are very important in doing study abroad.The focus on the placement work so do not focus on the study and the not to achive the goal and do not success in the life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response falls well short of the minimum length requirement of 250 words, stopping at only 173 words. Because of this severe limitation in length, the task is addressed only minimally. While the writer attempts to discuss both advantages and disadvantages, such as learning culture and earning money versus lacking time for study, the ideas are presented in a very restricted and repetitive manner. The position on the topic remains unclear due to the fragmented nature of the arguments and the lack of proper development or relevant examples. To reach a higher level, the writer would need to fully explore the prompt by providing extended, well-supported arguments with clear personal examples, while strictly ensuring the essay meets the required word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.0

Information and ideas are not arranged coherently, making the overall progression very difficult to follow. The text lacks proper paragraphing, presenting all ideas in a single, dense block of text where sentences are joined awkwardly without clear logical sequencing. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused, leading to heavy repetition and referencing errors that obscure how one idea connects to the next. For instance, transitions between the benefits of work placements and the drawbacks are abrupt and confusing. To improve coherence, the writer must organise the essay into distinct paragraphs with clear topic sentences, employing appropriate and varied cohesive devices to guide the reader smoothly through the arguments.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, employing a very limited range of words that often strain the reader's understanding. Throughout the text, lexical choices are restricted to elementary terms such as 'advantages', 'disadvantages', 'study', and 'work'. There are also noticeable errors in word form, collocation, and spelling, such as 'chalanging', 'chalnging', and 'grew up' used instead of 'grow' or 'develop'. These inaccuracies sometimes impede communication and make the phrasing unnatural. To achieve a higher band, the writer must build a wider and more flexible vocabulary, demonstrating precise word choices and appropriate collocations suitable for academic writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The grammatical range is very limited, consisting mostly of poorly constructed sentences where errors are frequent and often distort the intended meaning. There is a lack of control over basic sentence structures, verb forms, articles, and prepositions, as seen in problematic clauses like 'The abroad are studying all university undergraduate courses a period of time spent to do the part time job'. Complex sentence attempts are heavily flawed and ungrammatical. Punctuation and agreement are frequently mishandled throughout the response. To progress, the writer needs to demonstrate a much wider range of grammatical structures, improving the accuracy of basic clauses and ensuring that simple and complex sentences are constructed correctly.

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

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