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 the universities should add a period of time for the students when either they can spent this time time to study abroad or doing a work placement which facilitate them to make a strong portfolio.To a large extent, the benefits of this would outweigh the drawbacks. My view is justified further, with the reasons and examples, in the following paragraphs.

The foremost argument to justify my view is experience. If students of undergraduate course have an industrial experience it would help them to get better placement. Nowadays, many company prefer to offer a job to those candidate which has an experience because it saves the company time to give the training or teach the basic manners to the job applicant for the professional work. Therefore, it is beneficial for the students of undergraduate courses at the time of placement to get a better job if they have some experience of the field.

On the other hand, the benefits to studying abroad while ongoing undergraduate course could help them to build networking. Students make friend during studying abroad or they meet the industrial experts or teachers who has more knowledge of their field can give idea to the student for their future. They can build a startup or join a abroad company and make their future bright.

However, there are some disadvantages also. The study of students might affect by this because in university there are some fix time to teach a particular course. For example, there are some strict rules by the UGC in Indian university to teach the students a fixed minimum hours for a particular course. So that, the students goes for the work placement then their studies may be affect or they could even distracted from their education.

In conclusion, although students education get affect if they doing work for a period of time during their undergraduate course, it provides more benefits to the students than the drawbacks. They get better job opportunity at a good company which adds value in their portfolio. Moreover, if students spent studying abroad would help to build networking.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and you address both benefits and a drawback. The points about workplace experience improving employment prospects and studying abroad helping students build networks are relevant to the question. You also support them with explanations, such as employers saving time on training and students meeting experts. However, the disadvantage is less fully explored: the concern about fixed teaching hours and possible disruption to study is stated, but its scale and how universities might manage it are not explained. The discussion also focuses more on work placements than on the possible benefits or costs of studying abroad. Develop these less-covered aspects and make the comparison between advantages and disadvantages more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure, with an introduction, separate discussion of benefits and a disadvantage, and a conclusion that restates your view. Paragraphing generally helps the reader follow the main points, and signposts such as “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” make the stages visible. However, “On the other hand” introduces another advantage rather than a contrasting point, so the relationship between ideas is not always clear. Some links are also mechanical, and references such as “this” in the opening sentence are difficult to follow because the sentence is crowded. Use transitions that accurately show whether you are adding, contrasting, or explaining, and keep each paragraph focused on one clearly connected line of reasoning.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for education and employment, including “industrial experience,” “work placement,” “networking,” and “portfolio.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and some phrases show an attempt to discuss the topic specifically. However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive, as in “better placement,” “make their future bright,” and “the benefits to studying abroad.” “Placement” is also used where “job” or “employment opportunity” would be clearer. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding your overall argument, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Build a bank of common academic collocations and check whether each word fits its context before using it.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional reasoning (“If students… have an industrial experience it would help them”) and a concession in the conclusion. The main meaning is usually understandable, but errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “they can spent” should use the base form after “can,” while “many company prefer” needs plural agreement. In “the students goes,” the subject and verb do not agree, and “students education get affect” has several grammatical problems that obscure the intended relationship. Some sentences are also overloaded, particularly the opening. Practise accurate clause construction and subject–verb agreement, then proofread for verb forms and articles.

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