Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-06

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)

Many universities have started offering work placement opportunities and foreign study option to their students in recent times. I think it should be introduced in all unversity, where learners are graduating because it enables employment opportunity and practical experience scope for students.

International study option could be expensive for some university students. Because studying abroad often requires a significant amount of money for accomodation and immigration process, which might be difficult to arrange for some middle-class or low-income earning parents. Owing to this negative side, it cannot be included into all programmes.

There are several reasons, however, which justifies its benefits. One advantage of going abroad for study is students who are studying in foreign countries makes contact with people with diverse backgrounds, resulting in learning and respecting a variety of cultural values. Another vital benefits of doing a work placement is it helps them to land job offer. This is because job market is exstreamly competitive these days due to overpopulation, while college placement offers great package and least competition to the recent graduates, making job hunting easier for students. In addition, placement often creates networking opportunities for graduates. For example, if students participated in placement, they would have meet employer, ranging from different sectors, which might helps to build connection that can be helpful to land a job.

To conclude, although undergraduate courses have downside for studying abroad plan, which

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You present relevant advantages and disadvantages and indicate support for introducing placements, particularly through employment and practical experience. However, the position is not fully clear: the opening supports the proposal, while the cost paragraph concludes that it “cannot be included into all programmes,” and the unfinished conclusion does not resolve this contrast or answer whether advantages outweigh disadvantages. The benefits are also only partly developed; for instance, cultural learning is mentioned but not illustrated, and the employment claim about “great package and least competition” needs clearer explanation or support. The response is 18 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop the argument. State your judgement explicitly and complete the conclusion with a concise comparison of the two sides.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on costs, a paragraph on benefits, and an attempted conclusion. Connectors such as “however,” “In addition,” and “For example” help signal relationships between points. Nevertheless, progression is weakened by the conflict between the opening’s support for the proposal and the cost paragraph’s claim that it cannot be included in all programmes. The final sentence stops at “which,” leaving the essay without a completed conclusion. Some links are also awkward or unclear, such as “Because” beginning a sentence that depends on the previous one, and the example about meeting employers does not clearly connect to the preceding claim. Finish the conclusion and organise each paragraph around one clearly explained point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “work placement,” “diverse backgrounds,” “cultural values,” “competitive,” and “networking opportunities.” These choices make the subject clear and show some ability to use less common terms. However, several noticeable word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision: “employment opportunity” is awkward in this context, “college placement offers great package” is unclear, and “exstreamly” and “accomodation” are misspelled. Phrases such as “foreign study option” and “low-income earning parents” also sound unnatural. Aim for accurate, natural combinations rather than adding complexity; proofreading spelling and checking collocations would make your ideas easier to follow and more convincing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a reason clause beginning “This is because” and a conditional example beginning “if students participated.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to process. For example, “students who are studying in foreign countries makes contact” has subject–verb disagreement, while “they would have meet employer” has an incorrect verb form and missing plural marking. The opening fragment “Because studying abroad often requires…” is not a complete sentence, and the final sentence is unfinished. There are also problems with articles and prepositions, as in “included into all programmes.” Practise building complete sentences and checking agreement, verb forms, and sentence boundaries.

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