Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-04

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)

All university's student whom are currently are undergraduate should spend some time in foreign country's universities to pursue their courses and gaining some experience in working life in those new countries. Many people suggest that government should focus on this matter because it can be very beneficial for the students.

I do agree with this statement but somehow also disagree.

Studying and working sometime in abroad can be very profitable for students in many ways, such as: Students become more open minded and socialize by making new friends in abroad learning their culture, traditions and the way of them to handle different situations. Moreover, Students will get better chances of securing a better job through this program. Also Studying alone in completely new environment and country will make them significantly more independent, they can become much more responsible of their duties, and can learn about the life in more better way.

Contrastingly, Studying and working abroad can be challenging for some students, For example: Many students may face financial backlash due expensive courses and living cost abroad, Students whom always live with their families and have a strong bond among them may feel lonely and stressful and can experience homesickness living completely alone in that new country, And another reason can be finding a placement jobs in abroad which becomes very difficult for student coming from weak background due to expenses.

In my point of view, Studying or working abroad for sometime can benefit majority of students in many aspects of life but can be very difficult for some students, But I think it will be the best opportunity for those who are patinate about their career

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially, presenting a position that shifts slightly between supporting and questioning the prompt, leading to some lack of clarity. While the writer manages to touch upon both the advantages and disadvantages of studying and working abroad, the ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the points about becoming more open-minded and facing financial backlash are mentioned rather than fully explored with deep explanations or robust examples. To move to a higher level, the writer needs to present a well-developed position throughout the essay and extend each main idea with thorough supporting arguments and specific real-world examples rather than brief generalizations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation evident in the structure of the essay, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. However, there is no clear overall progression across the text. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on 'moreover', 'also', and 'contrastingly' at the start of sentences. Paragraphing is used, but internal paragraph cohesion feels mechanical. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrasing connecting ideas in the second body paragraph. To achieve a higher band, the writer should ensure a smoother, more logical progression of ideas from sentence to sentence and employ a wider, more natural range of cohesive devices without overusing mechanical transition words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating basic points about studying abroad. However, noticeable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices cause some difficulty for the reader. Examples include 'financial backlash', 'placement jobs', 'weak background', and the misspelling 'patinate' instead of passionate. Word formations and collocations are often awkward, such as 'learning the life in more better way'. To improve lexical score, the writer must expand their vocabulary range, practice natural collocations, and demonstrate better control over less common lexical items while reducing word choice and spelling errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, with frequent errors that frequently cause difficulty for the reader. There are persistent issues with subject-verb agreement, plurals, and relative clauses, as seen right at the beginning in 'All university's student whom are currently are undergraduate'. Other grammatical lapses include punctuation issues, run-on sentences, and incorrect prepositions like 'sometime in abroad' and 'in my point of view'. Attempts at complex sentences are often faulty and tangled. To progress, the student needs to build a stronger foundation in basic grammatical accuracy, improve control over tense consistency, article usage, and plurals, and learn how to construct complex sentences correctly and clearly.

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

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