Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

In recent era, students have explored about part time jobs while they are studying to help with there own expenses and to help their parents. I think that the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages and i firmly agree with statement. Both the views and my opinion.

All university students should try to work while they study or plan future courses in abroad. One of the major advantage could be more experience, in modern time many people do not job because of lack of experince in big companies or in job fields. By working undergraduate learners can gain basic skills such as, communication skills, marketing skills and etc. Furthermore, it could be benificial in financial aspect too. They can help their family and be independent rather depending on some. Moreover, studying abroad can help students learn about new way of learning. Every schools and universities have different culture and way of teaching. So it could be something new and interesting for the students. For instance, many students from india have gone abroad countries to study further education and they also do side jobs to fullfil their requirement and expenses.

Nevertheless, there are also some minor disadvantages to it. Many people believe that if students do side jobs they will be not so accurate in studies and can loose interest in education, which can leads to unemployment in future. However, abroad education provides good facilities and different knowlegde it could ver expensive for the most of the people beacuse many countries have high eduaction fees international students.

To conclude this, I firmly believe that advantages of going abroad for degree or doing job is way more beneficial for students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt only partially, showing some confusion regarding the specific prompt requirements. While the prompt asks about studying abroad or doing a work placement, the student partially conflates this with general part-time jobs during studies, as seen in the opening sentence: 'In recent era, students have explored about part time jobs...' The position is not always clearly maintained, and some ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on gaining basic skills like 'communication skills, marketing skills and etc.' is superficial and lacks extension or concrete examples from the student's own knowledge. Furthermore, the concluding overview of the prompt's two distinct aspects ('Both the views and my opinion') indicates a misunderstanding of standard task requirements. To move to a higher band, the writer must directly address all parts of the prompt with a clear, consistent position and fully develop ideas with relevant, well-supported explanations rather than sweeping generalisations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation with the use of paragraphs and transitional markers such as 'Furthermore', 'Moreover', and 'Nevertheless', but the essay lacks a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is attempted, yet the logical flow between ideas is frequently disrupted by abrupt shifts in topic, such as jumping from local part-time work and financial aspects straight into studying abroad within the same paragraph. Cohesive devices are often inadequate or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like 'rather depending on some'. Additionally, transitional phrases like 'To conclude this' are somewhat mechanical. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to ensure that each paragraph has a single, clear central topic, that ideas flow logically from one sentence to the next, and that a wider variety of cohesive devices are used with greater precision and flexibility.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'beneficial', 'independent', and 'unemployment', but this is accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and spelling that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. Examples of lexical slips include 'in modern time many people do not job', 'benificial', 'fullfil their requirement', and 'knowlegde it could ver expensive'. Phrasal and prepositional collocations are also weak, such as 'courses in abroad' and 'fees international students'. To improve to the next band, the student must expand their lexical range, demonstrate more precise word choices, and eliminate spelling and word-form errors so that vocabulary can be used more flexibly and accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and basic coordination. Attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to a high density of grammatical errors that can cause difficulty for the reader. There are frequent issues with articles, prepositions, verb forms, and subject-verb agreement throughout the text, such as 'In recent era', 'with there own expenses', 'lack of experince', 'broad countries', 'they will be not so accurate', and 'can leads to'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly regarding comma splices and lowercase starting letters for pronouns like 'i'. To reach a higher band, the writer must incorporate a wider mix of complex grammatical structures and improve the overall accuracy of basic sentence patterns, ensuring that errors in grammar and punctuation become much less frequent.

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

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