Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-19

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 suggested that every undergraduate degree should incorperatea compuslory period of overseas study or work placement. While, this approach have certain drawbacks, i am convinced that its benefits are far more significant.

To start with, there are many reasons associated with it. The first and foremost point is paractical challenges. To explain this, study abroad or intership mandatory could create practical challenges. The most obvious disadvantage is finanical. Studying in another country involve high cost for travle, accommodation and visas, which many tsudent from middle-class families in counries like india can not easily afford. Moreover, arranging work placement for thousand of student put a huge administrative burden on univerties, especially if they do not have strong industry struggle with culture shock or lanuguage barriers abroad, which could affect their well-being is they are not properly supported.

Nevertheless, the advantages of such a policy would outweight these issues. Firstly, in term of employbility, a work placement provides hand on experience that theory alone cannot offer. For example, an enginerring student who spends sis month in a company will understand real actory problems, learn teamwork and build proffessional network, making him far more job ready invalue from who only stuided from books. Secondly, it also built confidence and personal growth such as living independently in a foreign country develops adaptabilty cross cultural communication and confience and learn skills that are essentinal in a globalized world.

In conclusion, although they are both benefits and issues such as living farfrom family and other fanincial problems. However, it also tech so many things like become a person indipendent, creative or genrate skill in it. Apart from this, it also make stonger bond with other and tech how to coprate with others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you believe the benefits of overseas study or placements outweigh the drawbacks. You address both sides with relevant points, including costs, administrative demands and culture shock, then employability, practical experience and personal development. The engineering example helps make the employment argument more concrete. However, some ideas are not fully explained: the point about universities’ administrative burden becomes difficult to follow, and the conclusion lists benefits such as becoming “creative” without showing how they support your judgement. Develop each main point with a clearer explanation or example, and make the final paragraph directly compare the advantages with the disadvantages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has an overall structure that is easy to recognise: an introduction, a paragraph on disadvantages, a paragraph on advantages and a conclusion. Transitions such as “To start with,” “Nevertheless,” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and some connections between ideas are unclear. For instance, the sentence beginning “Moreover, arranging work placement…” runs into the point about culture shock, making the relationship between them hard to follow. The conclusion also introduces several ideas without linking them clearly to the main position. Use clearer topic sentences, separate distinct points, and use pronouns and linking phrases only when their references are unmistakable.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “administrative burden,” “employability,” “teamwork,” “professional network,” and “cross-cultural communication.” These choices show an effort to discuss education and work beyond basic terms. However, spelling errors and inaccurate word forms are noticeable throughout, for example “incorperatea,” “finanical,” “employbility,” and “adaptabilty.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “hand on experience” and “real actory problems,” which can make the intended meaning difficult to recover. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common collocations as complete phrases, such as “hands-on experience” and “industry experience.” This will make your vocabulary more precise and easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional clause in “if they are not properly supported” and a relative clause beginning “who spends…” in the engineering example. The main ideas are often understandable, but errors in sentence structure and verb forms sometimes make the reader work to follow them. For example, “Studying in another country involve high cost” has problems with subject–verb agreement and number, while “it also built confidence” uses an inconsistent verb form. The sentence about placements and culture shock is also structurally incomplete or joined unclearly. Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, consistent tense, and a complete clause; then punctuate longer sentences to show how their ideas connect.

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