Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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)

It has been observed that studends do study or work placement abroad. Nowadays, some people think that university studends spend time while doing study abroad or work placement.I believe that the advantages of this idea outweigh the disadvantages because students can gain practical experience and improve their future career opportunities.

On the one hand, the sereval reason to prove my points. Firstly, they have preactical experience of new skills and improve their future career opportunities, and the become independent. To elaborates on it, students can learn about the different culture and get new work experience from people who are working with them. For instance, a survey conducted by the global organisation revealed that 70% students make their future bright while doing study abroad and get success.

On the other hand, students have extra burden to spend money for accommodation, transportation and food. To explain it, they have not their home in abroad so they pay money for that and they have some other expense which make their lives more chellanging. Furthermore, few students find difficulties to stay away from parents. Sometimes, students gain bad habits such as drug addiction and gambling they destory their future. It is the negative effect on the teenagers.

To conclude the discussion, it can be despite the fact that although, studends can find the difficulty in abroad but they have many benefits also to develop the skills while doing work with other people, and make their future career opportunities. they are independent while doing job in other counties.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and the conclusion returns to this view. You address both sides, identifying practical experience, independence and career prospects as benefits, and costs, separation from parents and possible harmful behaviour as drawbacks. These are relevant responses to the question. However, some points are asserted rather than explained: the survey statistic is not connected to a specific example, and the claim about addiction and gambling is not clearly linked to a required placement. The discussion of how studying or working abroad develops skills is more relevant, but still general. Develop the strongest points with a clear explanation or a realistic example, and make the comparison between benefits and drawbacks more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “To conclude” helps readers follow the broad direction. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven: the advantages paragraph moves from skills to independence and then to a survey without clearly showing how each point supports the argument. Some linking phrases are awkward or do not introduce a complete idea, as in “the several reason to prove my points” and “To elaborates on it.” The conclusion also repeats earlier claims rather than drawing the comparison together. Organise each body paragraph around one main idea, then explain and illustrate it before moving on.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “practical experience,” “career opportunities,” “accommodation,” and “transportation.” These choices make the main subject understandable. However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. Examples include “make their future bright,” “extra burden to spend money,” and “their lives more challenging”; more natural collocations would improve precision. There are also noticeable spelling errors, such as “studends,” “preactical,” “chellanging,” and “destory.” Aim to learn topic-specific word partnerships and check spelling carefully. Replacing repeated general phrases with precise language about skills, costs and employment would make the argument more effective.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “while” and “although.” This gives the response some structural variety, and the main position is generally understandable. However, control is inconsistent, particularly in longer sentences. For example, “To elaborates on it, students can learn…” has an incorrect verb form, while “they have not their home in abroad so they pay money for that” has problems with word order and sentence construction. The conclusion beginning “it can be despite the fact that although” combines structures in a way that obscures the meaning. There are also errors in agreement and sentence boundaries. Practise building clear sentences with one main clause and a correctly formed supporting clause, then proofread for verb forms, articles and punctuation.

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