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)

There is a debate that all higher levels of educational institutions, specifically for undergraduate students, should plan related courses using the available resources for pursuing higher education abroad or getting hands-on work experience. I contend that it is highly beneficial for some students who can bear the extra financial burden.

Firstly, if universities made it mandatory for every student, it could create problems, including financial and environmental ones. Most fields do not require these courses; in fact, without them, students can concentrate better on their field. For instance, students who are enrolled in fields like Philosophy and Mathematics are not required to do an internship or gain more skills through study abroad.

On the other hand, studying abroad and gaining full access to skills would help individuals compete in this contemporary world. It genuinely helps students to work in a professional environment where they are equipped to learn those skills that usual lectures cannot provide. The second benefit is that it helps students to become independent, learn cultural diversity and gradually students become bilingual too. For example, one of my close friends who graduated in IT and to practice the skills he work as an intern in the most reputable company. He learned a lot, and that platform polished his abilities and secured his future.

So, these courses have their own pros and cons, depending on the reliability of the students. It creates financial issues but also facilitates students in enhancing their learning abilities as well as getting them opportunities to learn more about the different cultures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position that the advantages only outweigh the disadvantages for some students, depending on financial capabilities. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and uneven across the paragraphs. For instance, the argument regarding certain fields like Philosophy and Mathematics not requiring internships is introduced but remains under-developed without exploring deeper implications. Similarly, the personal example about the IT friend is brief and lacks sufficient elaboration to fully support the argument. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to extend and support all main ideas with more thorough explanations and fully realized examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a discernible progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate the opposing viewpoints and the writer's stance. However, cohesion at times feels mechanical or repetitive, particularly with transitions like 'Firstly' and 'The second benefit is that'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous connection in phrases like 'depending on the reliability of the students'. To achieve a higher band, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother, more natural logical transitions between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate main ideas about studying abroad and work placements. There are attempts to use less common items, such as 'contemporary world', 'hands-on work experience', and 'cultural diversity'. However, there are noticeable limitations and occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'high levels of educational institutions' instead of 'higher education institutions' and 'to practice the skills he work as an intern'. These errors do not impede overall communication, but to reach the next band, the writer must demonstrate greater precision, variety, and natural control over less common lexical items and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, with attempts at complex structures such as conditional and relative clauses. However, there are frequent errors in grammar, punctuation, and article usage that reflect a limited command of structures, such as 'There is a debate that', tense inconsistencies in 'he work as an intern', and awkward phrasing like 'gradually students become bilingual too'. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they do cause some difficulty for the reader and prevent the text from achieving a higher level of accuracy. To improve, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free sentences and exercise tighter control over verb forms and clause integration.

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