Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-18

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)

The argument, advantages of embedding practical or studying abroad period with all universities undergraduate courses will outweigh the disadvantages, has sparked widespread discussion. While there are certain drawbacks, I believe the advantages will far outweigh them.

The key benefits of introducing a period for study abroad or doing a work placement in all undergraduate courses includes the physical interaction with the field workers, and getting practical knowledge of respective courses. Integration of work in undergraduate courses will help the students to choose whether the career path they are picking or the studies they are doing are interesting, provide growth opportunities or not. For instance, if a student join university course with practical exposure or study abroad requirement, he will be more prepared and acknowledged of field requirements as compared to that one who just completed his course without any field exposure.

One of the most destructive drawbacks is, the students usually get formal education completed and when they actually go to their field or market without any prior experience or practical exposure, they are not widely accepted by the market or at very low rates. Thus, they undermine themselves, lose the interest and delegate the negative aspects to other candidates. This can lead to scarcity of specific professionals.

Above all, the inclusion of work placement or the requirement of period studying abroad can outweigh the disadvantages of it. The students will be prepared for field difficulties, job market situation and other pre-requisites of their practice. Additionally, they will be confident about the university course they have chosen to map their career.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you believe the advantages “will far outweigh” the drawbacks, and the conclusion restates this view. You also address both study abroad and work placements, with relevant points about practical knowledge, career choice and readiness for employment. However, the discussion is unevenly developed. The benefits receive a concrete example, but the paragraph beginning “One of the most destructive drawbacks” does not clearly explain a disadvantage of requiring placements or overseas study; instead, it describes the problem of graduates lacking experience, which supports your case for placements. Explain a genuine drawback, such as cost or unequal access, and weigh it against the benefits. Some claims, including the possible “scarcity of specific professionals,” also need clearer explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to benefits, a drawback-related paragraph and a conclusion. Linking expressions such as “For instance,” “Thus,” and “Additionally” help signal relationships between ideas. However, progression is not consistently clear: the paragraph introduced as a drawback actually describes a problem that work placements could solve, so its role in the argument is confusing. The conclusion repeats the overall position but does not resolve this mismatch or weigh the two sides explicitly. Some connections are also mechanical, particularly “Above all” at the start of the conclusion. Make each paragraph’s purpose clear, use references that identify exactly what “them” or “it” refers to, and connect the example directly to the claim it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “practical exposure,” “career path,” “growth opportunities,” and “job market.” These choices make the subject clear, and you attempt more formal expressions such as “integration” and “pre-requisites.” However, several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “physical interaction with the field workers,” “delegate the negative aspects to other candidates,” and “map their career” do not express the intended ideas clearly. “Destructive drawbacks” is also an overly strong and unsuitable collocation in this context. Aim for natural academic phrasing and check whether each expression conveys your intended meaning. More precise vocabulary would help distinguish the benefits from the disadvantages you discuss.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional example beginning “if a student…” and a contrast introduced by “While.” Most of the argument remains understandable, but some grammatical errors reduce accuracy. For example, “The key benefits … includes” has a subject–verb agreement error; “if a student join” should use a singular verb; and “the studies they are doing are interesting, provide growth opportunities or not” has an unclear, unbalanced structure. There are also issues with articles and number, as in “with practical exposure or study abroad requirement.” Work on agreement, article use and parallel structures, then proofread longer sentences to ensure that each clause has a clear grammatical relationship.

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