Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Nowadays, many individuals belive that all universities undergraduate fields should introduce a decade of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. I think that marits of this topic are greater than its demarits and my justification will be provided in upcoming paragraphes along with relevant examples.

On of the major advantage of this approach is that scholars can gain some new skills as well as they can experience many new cultures their lifestyles and history by studying abroad and by work placement they gain future working experiences and team work by this it will open many gates for jobs to them after their graduation. Student who goes for study abroad during their undergraduate course may build good self confidence by facing diffrent chalanges. Additionally, providing work internship to students with their study will give students wast range of opportunities to build their carrer. For example, students who are doing work placment to any company abroad will learn many skills as they work with that company experienced employees, consiquently students are more likely to get job opportunities and they will easily adapt professional working environment.

On the other hand, There are also many drawbacks of doing addtional things during their academic term because it can affect their studies as welll as the cost of traveling abroad is way expensive for many students that it will affect their economical situation. For instense, a scholar who

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You take a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and give relevant points about cultural experience, confidence, employability and cost. The example of students learning from experienced employees helps illustrate the employment benefit. However, the response addresses the task only partially: the disadvantages are introduced but not explained, and the final example stops at “a scholar who,” leaving the argument unfinished. The discussion also does not clearly distinguish studying abroad from doing a work placement in each part. The response is 225 words, so it is 25 words below the required minimum; this contributes to the limited development. To strengthen the response, complete the disadvantages paragraph and explain why the benefits outweigh those costs and academic risks.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits and a paragraph beginning with the opposing view. Linking expressions such as “Additionally,” “For example” and “On the other hand” help signal relationships between ideas. However, there is no completed conclusion, and the final sentence is cut off, so the overall progression does not reach a clear ending. Some sentences combine several points—skills, culture, work experience and employment—without clear separation, making the line of reasoning difficult to follow. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, as in “by this it will open many gates.” Use shorter, more focused sentences, connect each example directly to its claim, and finish with a conclusion that restates your judgement.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “self confidence,” “work placement,” “opportunities” and “professional working environment.” These choices communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and several spelling errors or imprecise expressions make the writing less clear, such as “marits,” “demarits,” “wast range” and “carrer.” Some phrases are also unnatural, including “open many gates for jobs” and “doing additional things.” Aim for accurate spelling and more natural academic collocations, such as “improve employment prospects” or “gain practical experience.” Vary the vocabulary used to discuss benefits and drawbacks, while ensuring that less familiar expressions are used accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a sentence beginning “On the other hand” and a clause explaining what students may gain from placements. However, complex sentences are often difficult to control, and errors in agreement, articles and sentence construction occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “all universities undergraduate fields” lacks a clear possessive structure, while “Student who goes” does not agree in number with the general claim. The opening sentence of the benefits paragraph also joins several ideas without a clear grammatical structure. Practise building accurate sentences around one main idea, checking subject–verb agreement and article use, and then add subordinate clauses. Careful proofreading would also help identify the unfinished final sentence.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.