Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-20

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 degrees are aimed to enable students to pursue an occupation. A person who has spent all his life in classrooms, has least knowledge of markets outside. The workplacement and exposure of studying abroad helps a student to experience real hurdles in the journey of career building.

When an educational institute adds outer world experience for pupils, it becomes harder for them to create a balance with their studies. The students feel overwhelmed and they may deal it with things on nerves.

Meanwhile, if the curriculum is designed accordingly, and the education system provides adequate time, those students can do better.

When I was studying, my university introduced a 3U1M plan. it means 3 years in the university and 1 year in the market for undergraduate students. In the last year, my classes were scheduled for the weekends only. So, I started an internship, faced the market and learned new things. By the time I was graduated, I had curricular knowledge as well as the professional experience.

The student exchange programs are rare in the world. Those should be promoted more so learners can experience what is new in their profession and how the students from other countries are excelling.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the topic by discussing both the challenge of balancing placements with study and the benefits of practical experience, and your personal example of the “3U1M plan” supports your view. However, the response does not clearly answer whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages: the final paragraph promotes exchange programmes, but there is no direct overall judgement. Several points, including the possible strain on students and the value of studying abroad, are mentioned but not explained or supported in enough detail. The response is also 49 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop your reasoning. State your position explicitly and extend each main point with explanation or a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence: it introduces career preparation, considers a possible difficulty, gives a personal placement example, and ends with student exchange. Paragraphing helps separate these points, and linking expressions such as “Meanwhile” and “So” show some awareness of progression. However, the overall argument does not build towards a clear answer to the outweigh question, and the final paragraph feels like a new point rather than a conclusion. Some connections are also unclear, particularly “they may deal it with things on nerves,” which makes the relationship between the placement and student stress difficult to follow. Use topic sentences to signal each paragraph’s role, connect examples explicitly to your position, and finish with a concise conclusion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for education and employment, including “curriculum,” “internship,” “professional experience,” and “student exchange programs.” These choices make the subject clear, and phrases such as “career building” show an attempt to use topic-specific language. However, the range is limited, and several word choices or collocations sound unnatural or obscure meaning, such as “workplacement,” “exposure of studying abroad,” and “deal it with things on nerves.” There are also imprecise expressions such as “faced the market.” Aim for more natural academic collocations and check whether each phrase conveys your intended meaning. More precise vocabulary for benefits, drawbacks, and skills would help you explain the comparison more effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “if the curriculum is designed accordingly” and a relative clause in “a person who has spent all his life in classrooms.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in sentence construction, verb forms, articles, and punctuation occur often enough to make some sentences awkward. For example, “All university degrees are aimed to enable” has an incorrect verb pattern, “has least knowledge” is missing an article, and “By the time I was graduated” uses an incorrect passive form. The sentence beginning “When an educational institute adds…” also has an unclear pronoun reference. Practise accurate verb patterns and article use, and proofread sentence boundaries and capitalisation, including the lowercase “it” after a full stop.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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