Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Our educational institutes are not solely responsible to bring us educated people, nevertheless it can also enable us to learn useful skills which will be beneficial to transform us competitive to attain exceptional career opportunities. Therefore universities should allow their undergraduate students to pursue an addtitional courses to study in any foreign country. In this essay, I would argue that its a worth considering option and there advantages are outweigh the disadvantages.

To begin with, if the universities offer their university fellows to move abroad to complete a course, initially it will be an exciting expierence for them. They will have a chance to explore a new place, meet new people and to learn their culture subsequently, this experinece can assist them to be gregarious. Moreover meeting new people help them to improve their communication skills which is one of the fundamental requirements to secure a better profession in the future. Consequently, they become more confident and socialized.

Additionally, it is widely believe that staying away from your home especially from your comfortzone enable you to be more discipline. Sometimes even when the students live abroad they learn how to be self-relient, they become more practical and eventually learn some indespensable traits particularly to be independent and and resilient which are some significant skills to be consider to evolve a successful businessman.

In conclusion, spending a few months or one semester in any foreign country to complete a course can be advantageous for the students beacuse this experience offer numerous valuable lesson for them, which they cannot learn in their own state, moreover these lessons are essential for their career development. Therefore all educational institutes should include certain subjects for their students which they can earn from abroad, thus their benefits are outweight to the drawbacks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a clear position in favour of including overseas study, and the two main benefits—social development and greater independence—are relevant to the question. Examples such as meeting people from other cultures and learning to manage away from home help explain your view. However, the response focuses almost entirely on studying abroad and does not address the alternative of a work placement. The disadvantages are also not considered, so the comparison required by “outweigh” is asserted rather than demonstrated. Some claims, such as these experiences helping students become successful businesspeople, need clearer explanation or a more specific example. To strengthen the response, discuss both options, acknowledge at least one drawback, and explain why the benefits are greater overall.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs developing benefits, and a conclusion that restates your position. Sequencing expressions such as “To begin with,” “Additionally,” and “In conclusion” make the stages easy to follow. Within paragraphs, however, some ideas run together, particularly the sentence beginning “They will have a chance to explore a new place,” where several points are joined without clear punctuation. The conclusion also repeats the benefits rather than drawing together a comparison of advantages and disadvantages. Some references, including “these lessons,” are broad and could be made more precise. Use clearer sentence boundaries and organise the body around distinct, fully explained points to make progression more effective.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of vocabulary relevant to education and personal development, including “communication skills,” “self-reliant,” “resilient,” and “career development.” These choices show an effort to express ideas beyond basic vocabulary. However, noticeable spelling, word-form, and collocation errors sometimes make the wording awkward, as in “addtitional courses,” “experinece,” “widely believe,” and “evolve a successful businessman.” Some expressions are also imprecise: “university fellows” does not clearly mean undergraduate students, and “lessons” is vague when referring to skills gained abroad. Check spelling carefully and learn common word partnerships; choosing simpler, accurate phrasing is more effective than using an ambitious expression incorrectly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, using clauses with “if,” “which,” and “when” to connect ideas. This gives the response some structural variety, but complex sentences are often not controlled accurately, and errors recur across the essay. For example, “it can also enable us” does not agree with the plural subject “institutes,” while “staying away … enable you” has a similar agreement problem. The opening sentence also joins contrasting ideas with “nevertheless” in a way that makes the relationship unclear. There are errors with articles, verb forms, and sentence boundaries, including “its a worth considering option” and the run-on sentence beginning “They will have a chance.” Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject, verb, and punctuation.

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