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)

University undergraduate curriculum ought to incude a phase spent studying abroad or give a chance to work in practical. From my persepective, the advantages will definitly be more then the disadvantages of the period of time spend on studying in another country or doing some sort of internship.

Firstly, i will be talking about the semester change programs. Or we can say spending some time abroad for studying. There will be a lot of benefits studying in other countries. I will list a few of them the first and main factor was you will get an semester change certificate. Which will help you a lot in your future career like you have an international certification from a univeristy which will boast your profile overall. You will have a lot of experience as well because you wil be interacting with people which are from different cultures and countries. The second major factor was you will make some good connections as well which will help you after your graduation.

Moreover, doing work or a kind of internship during the time when you are an undergraduate have large number of benefits specially in the courses like computer science, software engineering and related to it.

The most important advantage of doing an internship or work along with your study was you will get an hand on experience with how to use things in the real world. If i talk about our field computer science its very to do an internship with your study so you will get the basic idea of hoe things work. So when you graduate it will be easily for you to hunt jobs and do the work you already did in the internship.

The main reason i was on the advantages side is the job market in today era. Everyone know about artificial intelligence and the companies do not want any interns in there companies like they want in the past so doing practical work with your studies will take you far away in your career while if we talk about studying abroad it will give you an experience with multi-cultures and connection just like my friend muneeb. He was doing his degree from university and then he go to italy on semester change program and he is still there doing his master degree abroad.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and you discuss both study abroad and work placements. Relevant benefits include international experience, cultural interaction, professional connections and practical skills, with the example of your friend studying in Italy helping to make the discussion more concrete. However, the comparison with disadvantages is not developed: you do not explain what the drawbacks might be or why the benefits outweigh them. Some points also need fuller explanation, such as how a “semester change certificate” improves career prospects and why placements are especially valuable in computer science. Develop these links and address the comparison directly to make the argument more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs on study abroad and work experience, and a concluding paragraph that restates your position. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Moreover” and “The main reason” help signal the stages of your argument. However, progression is sometimes mechanical, and some connections between ideas are unclear. For example, the final paragraph moves from artificial intelligence and companies’ hiring practices to your friend’s experience without clearly explaining how the example supports the comparison. The sentence beginning “I will list a few of them” also leads into a list that is not clearly organised. Use topic sentences and clearer links between each claim, its explanation and its example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “internship,” “international certification,” “connections,” “practical work” and “multi-cultures.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “semester change programs,” “work in practical,” “boast your profile” and “hunt jobs.” Spelling errors, including “incude,” “persepective” and “univeristy,” also reduce accuracy. Aim to learn natural phrases as complete units—for example, “exchange programme,” “gain hands-on experience” and “improve your employment prospects”—and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would make your points easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, and the reader can generally understand your main argument. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in verb forms, articles, agreement and sentence boundaries. Examples include “you will get an semester,” “the first and main factor was,” “when you graduate it will be easily for you,” and “he go to Italy.” Some sentences are joined or punctuated in ways that make their structure difficult to follow, such as “I will list a few of them the first and main factor was…” Capitalisation of “I” is also inconsistent. Practise accurate past and present forms, article use, and breaking long sentences into complete clauses; this will help you express complex ideas more clearly.

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