Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03

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)

The knowledge about foreign studies along with a better job placement is a vital part of every student life. For this, the undergraduate universities should provide a special lecture for this with different types of courses. I agree with this notion and definately its merits outweigh the demerits.

To begin with job hiring sessions it is a better way to provide essential knowledge to students what types of work they can secure in their future. If the work placement sessions would be started by universities, the companies can hiring bright employees for them and this makes the selection area wider with better talents. Apart from that sometimes immidiate hiring can be happen by this which gives scholars a better opportunity with studies. To examplify this statement, the Google Inc. organised a recruitment programme in Delhi University in the year 2025, consequently, they bring talented students directly from universities which provide a secure job to many brilliant students.

In addition, it is more benefitial for students to provide them knowledge about foreign studies. The world is now shifiting to foreign exposure and also in the feild of education. Some students have better mindset but they have not enough knowledge and resources to meet them with abroad institutions. This method can also be successful if the universities allow foreign national institute agent to share their views with students.

Towards shifting to some demerits, sometimes it may be waste of time due to uneven abroad advertisements. Also in many cases, this scheme does not fit to many students which may disturb the important classes. Sometimes distractions given by the agents can change students mindsets.

To conclude, by considering the advantages of abroad education awareness and job placements in universities, it is evident that its merits outweight its demerits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You have addressed all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including studying abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, and you stated a clear position that the merits outweigh the demerits. However, your ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, when discussing job hiring sessions and foreign studies, the supporting points remain general rather than being fully extended with detailed reasoning or precise examples. Your mention of Google Inc. at Delhi University attempts to provide an example, but the connection is slightly weak and lacks deeper analysis. To move to a higher level, you need to ensure that every main idea is thoroughly elaborated with well-explained explanations and robust supporting details rather than relying on brief assertions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

Your response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the essay into an introduction, body paragraphs addressing merits and demerits, and a conclusion. You have used basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'In addition', and 'To conclude' to signal the direction of your thoughts. However, progression is occasionally hindered because referencing is not always clear, and some sentences feel mechanically linked rather than flowing naturally. Paragraphing is present, but the internal cohesion within your paragraphs needs more varied and precise linking words to guide the reader effortlessly. To improve, you should focus on making the transitions between sentences smoother and ensuring that logical relationships are tightly maintained throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You have used a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for this task, successfully communicating your general thoughts on education and employment. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and collocation that detract from the precision of your writing, such as writing 'benefitial' instead of beneficial, 'feild' instead of field, and 'immidiate' instead of immediate. You also make awkward lexical choices like 'uneven abroad advertisements' and 'foreign national institute agent'. These noticeable errors and occasional spelling slips cause some difficulty for the reader and reveal a restricted control over less common lexical items. To achieve a higher score, you must broaden your vocabulary range and ensure that word forms and collocations are used accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Your writing displays a limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside some attempts at complex forms. Unfortunately, your attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to awkward phrasing and grammatical errors. You exhibit frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions within grammatical patterns, and article usage, such as in 'every student life', 'what types of work they can secure', 'the companies can hiring', and 'distractions given by the agents can change students mindsets'. These frequent errors require the reader to occasionally pause and interpret your intended meaning. To progress further, you need to gain better control over complex sentence patterns and significantly reduce basic grammatical errors across verb agreements and clause structures.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.