Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-21

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)

The topic is that, All the undergraduate courses should spend a small period of spent their studies in foriegns or doing work places.

At all, the universities that have undergradute programms should spend the plenty of time in studying in abroads or doing the relevent works. In my opinon that's the great idea, because taking time your studies in abroad is very useful for the knowledge of students, In that period of time they learn more thing that they never learn in their own country universities. The main reason is that different country universities have their own different methods of teaching. For example, When the undergradutor go the university in abroad for their studies they all gain more knowledge about their cousre just because the method of teaching is new for them and they develop more intrest in their programm study.There is also some disadvantages which includes that some students that have no intrest in studies go foriegn and waste all the time in visiting instead of gaining knowledge.

And if, The university don't afford and take risk of going abroad. They should visit students the work placement and spend the short period of their progammes in doing practicles. Because at that stage of students they learn more by doing practicle instead of learning by theories only. For instance, There is total 200 number of undergraduators in a university and In that 200 student only some that prefers learning theories, All the other learn by practicles. The reason is simple it is the human phsycology that they learn more by doing practicle instead of reading theories.

In conclusion, The universities have to spend some time of course duration in foriegns or learn them practicle works.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear general preference for including international study or practical experience, and you offer relevant reasons: exposure to different teaching methods and learning through practical work. The example about students gaining knowledge in a foreign university supports the first point, while the work-placement paragraph addresses the alternative in the prompt. However, the response does not fully answer whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. You mention students potentially wasting time abroad, but do not weigh this concern against the benefits or explain why the benefits are greater. The discussion of work placements also shifts toward practical learning without clearly comparing it with studying abroad. State your position directly and develop the comparison with specific supporting detail.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, so the reader can identify its broad structure. The ideas are generally grouped by topic: international study and its drawback come first, followed by practical placements. However, progression within and between paragraphs is not always clear. The opening repeats the prompt rather than establishing a focused position, and transitions such as “And if” do not clearly show how the work-placement point relates to the argument. Several sentences run together, making relationships between claims difficult to follow. Use clearer topic sentences, separate distinct ideas, and connect the disadvantage directly to your overall judgement. A conclusion should summarise why the advantages do or do not outweigh the drawback.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “methods of teaching,” “work placement,” “knowledge,” and “practicals,” and the reader can usually understand your main points. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes meaning less clear. Examples include “spend a small period of spent their studies,” “in foriegns,” and “waste all the time in visiting.” Spelling errors such as “foriegns,” “undergradute,” and “phsycology” also affect the impression of control. Build a bank of accurate academic phrases for international study and workplace learning, and check spelling and word forms carefully. Prefer precise expressions over repeated uses of “learn” and “knowledge.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including a reason clause beginning “because” and an example introduced by “For example.” This shows an effort to connect ideas rather than relying only on short statements. However, the range remains limited, and complex sentences are often faulty, with frequent errors in sentence boundaries, agreement, articles and verb forms. For instance, “the universities … should spend the plenty of time” has an unclear subject and incorrect article use, while “There is also some disadvantages which includes” has agreement errors. Capitalisation after commas and full stops is also inconsistent, and some sentences join several ideas without clear punctuation. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a clearly controlled subordinate clause, then proofread agreement and punctuation.

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

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