Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-07

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)

Nowadays, All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.I largerly agree with this point of view.I will discuss my openion with relevant examples and personal experience.

On the one hand, it is very benifical for those student who are eager to learn new skills during the university time.Moreover,it will helps students to show more interest in the particular courses while, they have also industrial experiance and that will help them to fine a job after graduation.Same as, when student go for cultural experience and learning different language in abroad.That time they also have golden chance to build a new connection. For Example, in these days companies demand experiance for internship and job specially in tech market.As a result, it is advantage for those who don't have enough connection in the industries that will help all of them.

On the other hand, with the advantages it also have some disadvantages but, it's not a big issue .Additionally, some time student show more interest in work placement rather then study so, that distruction leads to big issues. Although, when student go out of the country thay see different culture and fasion so, that's also a turning point for those student who are not responsible at all. For Instance, not everybody come from stronge family so, some come from poor backgound they have a responsibility so, they start working during the study and some time left the study and jusy set all eye on earning.As a result, it is leads to low lettracy rate and some time cause a poverty.

In conclusion, during the university education students should have a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.However, that period of time spent for learning not for earning.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a position by saying you “largely agree” and address both benefits and drawbacks, so the response is relevant to the question. The work-placement discussion identifies employability and industry connections, while the study-abroad discussion mentions language and cultural experience. However, the comparison of whether advantages outweigh disadvantages is not consistently established: the disadvantages paragraph introduces concerns about distraction and financial pressure, but the conclusion only says the period should be “for learning not for earning.” Several points remain general or unclear, such as how placements benefit students across different courses. Develop the weighing-up more explicitly and support key claims with a specific example. The response meets the required length; 30 words copied from the task prompt were not counted.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. This helps the reader identify the main stages of your argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several ideas are joined without clear relationships. For example, the shift from gaining work experience to building connections in the first body paragraph is abrupt, and the final example about students from poor backgrounds does not clearly connect to the claim about literacy and poverty. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand,” “Moreover,” and “As a result” are used, but some are mechanical or do not accurately show the relationship between ideas. Organise each paragraph around one main point and explain the link between its example and your argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “work placement,” “industrial experience,” “cultural experience,” “particular courses,” and “after graduation.” These choices show an attempt to discuss education, employment, and international study. However, the range is limited and several spelling errors or imprecise expressions make parts of the response harder to understand, such as “benifical,” “experiance,” “distruction,” and “low lettracy rate.” Some combinations are also unnatural, including “golden chance to build a new connection” and “set all eye on earning.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise terms such as “professional network,” “academic performance,” and “financial responsibilities” would help express your ideas clearly without relying on repeated general words such as “student,” “time,” and “issue.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “when,” “although,” and “so,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, the range is limited, and complex sentences often contain errors that make relationships between ideas unclear. Examples include “it will helps students,” “it also have some disadvantages,” and “when student go,” where subject–verb agreement is not controlled. Articles and plurals are also inconsistent, as in “those student” and “a new connection.” Punctuation and sentence boundaries need attention: “work placement.I” and “big issue .Additionally” run words together or separate them incorrectly. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a subordinate clause, then check agreement, articles, and punctuation before adding further ideas.

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