Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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)

It is a very good idea to include a period of time for undergraduate students during which they can spend time studying abroad or doing a work placement. All universities should apply this idea for students' better future. If students have some time during their undergraduate studies to think about their future careers, it might be very helpful for them. I think this can outweigh the disadvantages.

Most students have confusion about what they should do after completing their undergraduate studies, whether they should pursue postgraduate studies or start working. Adding a period of time during which students can think about this can solve this problem. With the help of this, students can get enough time to think about their careers while studying at university and make more informed decisions about their careers.

Nowadays, most universities around the world apply this idea in their undergraduate courses by assigning mentors or tutors to students. If students have any questions or are confused about their future career plans, they can go straight to their mentors or tutors and get proper guidance. Moreover, universities arrange sessions for students so that they can get an idea about studying abroad or doing a work placement, and these sessions are conducted by experts.

Overall, including a period of time during which students can get information about their future, whether they should study abroad or do a work placement, is a very good idea. During this time, students can learn about the benefits of studying abroad or doing a work placement.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages of studying abroad or doing a work placement, concluding that they outweigh the disadvantages. However, the position is not fully developed and remains somewhat superficial. While the student mentions career choices and university support systems such as mentors, the actual disadvantages are barely acknowledged or explored, leading to an unbalanced discussion. Ideas tend to be repetitive rather than thoroughly extended with specific examples. For instance, the point about getting enough time to think about careers is restated across multiple paragraphs without deep elaboration. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to explore both sides of the argument more thoroughly and provide concrete, well-supported examples rather than general statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate main ideas, such as career confusion in the second paragraph and university support in the third. However, cohesion at times feels mechanical and repetitive, relying heavily on basic transitional phrases like "Moreover" and "If students... they can". Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like "adding a period of time during which students can think about this can solve this problem," where the precise referent is slightly vague. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the writer should use a wider variety of cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure smoother transitions between sentences and paragraphs without overusing formulaic structures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday academic concepts with terms like "undergraduate studies," "postgraduate studies," and "career plans." There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are sometimes accompanied by slight unnaturalness in word choice or collocation, such as "Most students have confusion about" instead of "Most students are confused about." Spelling is generally accurate, and word-choice errors do not impede communication. To reach the next band, the writer should incorporate a broader range of sophisticated and precise lexical items, avoiding repetitive phrasing such as the frequent reuse of the words "students," "ideas," and "time."

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writing demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional structures successfully, as seen in "If students have any questions or are confused about their future career plans, they can go straight to their mentors." There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, but they rarely impede communication. The control over grammar shows the strong foundation characteristic of higher bands, with many error-free sentences. Minor slips occur in article usage and prepositional patterns. To secure a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider variety of more sophisticated complex structures and reduce persistent minor grammatical inaccuracies to ensure greater overall precision.

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

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