Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-15

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)

All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. It is suggested that advantages of the situation has overweigh the disadvantages.

Big advantage of this is that it gives students self confidence, ability of independence and unemployment. By doing work, students are getting more practical for future life. After graduation they have more chances of employment and they are not relying on any other person for their expenses. Along with this students have more chances to communicate with different people of different languages and culture. Students learn alot of languages to communicate with them. For example, an engineer who is doing job in company for six months have more practical experience than unemployed engineer.

If we consider disadvantages, major disadvantage is that most of the students who belongs to low economy families or middle class families , have no enough money to spend on visas for study in abroad, cost of travelling and accommodation charges. They have no more resources on which they rely for their earnings. So its very difficult for them to afford studying abroad. Such type of students prefer to do jobs in their own country.

Conclusion of this whole discussion is that it gives students more self-confidence, independence and practical. Also it gives more chances to students to get jobs easily after graduation from their experience during under graduation. Also it gives them chance to learn different languages to communicate with different people belongs to different cultures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and address both sides, with relevant points about practical experience, independence, employment prospects and the cost of overseas study. The example comparing an engineer with work experience to one without helps illustrate your argument. However, several points are asserted rather than explained: for instance, the claim that students learn many languages is not developed, and the disadvantage is mainly about studying abroad, without considering how a work placement might offer an alternative. The response is also 18 words below the 250-word minimum; the 18 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop your reasons and explain more fully why the benefits outweigh the financial barriers to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages and a conclusion. This makes the main direction easy to follow, and phrases such as “If we consider disadvantages” signal a change in focus. However, the conclusion largely repeats the advantages paragraph instead of weighing the two sides and reinforcing the position. Some connections are also mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “Also” and “Along with this.” References such as “this” and “them” are not always precise, so readers must infer what they refer to. Use a wider range of linking expressions and organise each body paragraph around a clearly explained main point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “practical experience,” “employment,” “accommodation” and “independence.” However, the range is limited and several inaccurate or unnatural choices make parts of the response difficult to interpret. “Unemployment” appears in a list of benefits, although the intended idea seems to be employability or employment prospects; “more practical” is also unclear in “students are getting more practical for future life.” Phrases such as “low economy families” and “study in abroad” show problems with collocation and word choice. Repetition of “students,” “chances” and “different” further limits flexibility. Aim to use precise phrases for career benefits and financial barriers, and check that each word expresses the intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer sentence forms, including “By doing work, students are getting more practical for future life” and the sentence beginning “If we consider disadvantages.” However, the range is limited, and errors in agreement, articles, verb forms and sentence construction occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “advantages … has” does not agree, “an engineer who is doing job … have” has several agreement and article problems, and “students who belongs” uses the wrong verb form. The opening phrase “It is suggested that advantages of the situation has overweigh” is also difficult to understand grammatically. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and article use, then build longer sentences from simpler, correct patterns.

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