Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-08

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)

In this contemparary society, all university bachelor degree courses should include a some time to spent on studying in another countries or doing a work experience realted to your field. Although this development offers several benifits, it also has some drawbacks. This essay will discuss advantages outweigh the disadvantages before reaching a conclusion.

One of the major advantage is that if they do work or any internship during their bachelor's students gain practical knowledge as well as work experience. Moreover studying in other country may develops independence and cultural awareness.This is because improve employment oppurtunities after graduation as well as students can upskill on their communication and language. For instance, A student studying in foriegn country also doing internship during that time he may get experience on work for get more oppurtunities and improve talking skills. Therefore, while bachelor courses every learner definetly spent time on basic work or abrod plan.

On the other hand, one significant disadvantage is studying in abroad can be more expensive, In additon during studies work placement may reduce the time for academic study. This mainly because some students may have family financial difficulties whereas some others can not maintain both studies and placement at a time. For example, a student from india who is required to spend a semester in UK may struggle to afford flights, accomodation and daily expenses, even if the university provide financial assistance. As a result, during bachelor's spending time on abroad studies may increase financial burden.

To conclude, despite some disadvantages, although while studying undergraduate students to study abrosd or work placement may creates financial difficulties. I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvatages because valuable experience, skills and grater career opurtunities gained from programmes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both sides of the question and state a clear view: the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Relevant benefits include practical experience, independence, cultural awareness and improved employment prospects, while the cost of overseas study and possible pressure on study time are appropriate drawbacks. The examples, particularly the student travelling from India to the UK, help make the financial concern concrete. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained: for instance, the link between studying abroad and better communication skills could be developed with a clearer explanation or example. The conclusion also repeats the financial drawback but does not clearly weigh it against the benefits. Develop the comparison more explicitly so the reader can see why the advantages are stronger.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. The progression from benefits to costs is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Moreover,” “On the other hand,” and “To conclude” help guide the reader. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some features of stronger progression. However, connections within sentences are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, “This is because improve employment opportunities” does not clearly connect to the preceding idea, and the final sentence begins with both “despite” and “although,” making the relationship between ideas confusing. Use fewer formulaic transitions and make each sentence’s reference and logical link explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “practical knowledge,” “cultural awareness,” “work placement,” “employment opportunities,” and “financial burden.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the topic beyond very basic terms. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling, word-form and collocation errors make parts of the response less clear, such as “contemparary,” “benifits,” “foriegn,” and “opurtunities.” Phrases such as “a some time,” “work experience related to your field,” and “basic work or abroad plan” are also imprecise or unnatural. Build a reliable set of expressions for study abroad, placements and career outcomes, and check spelling and collocations carefully so your meaning is consistently easy to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure (“if they do work or any internship”) and a concession in the introduction (“Although this development offers…”). However, control is inconsistent, and several sentence patterns are faulty. Examples include “all university bachelor degree courses should include a some time to spent,” “studying in other country may develops,” and “students to study abroad or work placement may creates.” These show problems with articles, infinitives, agreement and verb forms. Some sentences also lack a clear grammatical connection, as in “This is because improve employment opportunities.” Practise building accurate subject–verb patterns and checking each clause for a subject and correctly formed verb. More reliable complex sentences will help you express the comparisons and reasons clearly.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.