Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-28

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)

Some believe that all universities should provide undergraduate courses which include a time period spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. This can include some advantages as well as disadvantages.

On the one hand, some people says that all universities should include a specific time to live abroad or having work experience during undergraduate courses. This is because when a student travel abroad, their mind opens up and they learn practica life skils. For example, when an undergraduate student goes abroad, they meet different people from different cultures and backgrounds. There they also learn different languages. Moreover, a person learn real life skills like how to manage house or how to manage finances.

Besides the advantages, there are some drawbacks of studying outside the country. One is that every student can not afford to go abroad. Forexample, there are some students who can not arrange money or do not much money that they can afford to go abroad and study there. Furthermore, when a student is away from their academic institution, they can not focus on study and gets easily distracted. Forexample, when a student goes out of their home country, they have to manage everything by their own, so they got distracted and can not focus on their studies as much as they can by living in their home country.

I believe that their are both advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad. In my opinion universities should not include travel to study abroad in their undergraduate courses and should see every student because not everyone can afford such expenses of travel and study.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss relevant benefits, including cultural contact, language learning and practical independence, and you also identify affordability and distraction as drawbacks. However, the task asks whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and your position is not consistently clear: the introduction only says there are advantages and disadvantages, while the conclusion opposes requiring overseas study but does not directly weigh the two sides. The benefits are also asserted rather than fully explained, and the work-placement option in the prompt receives little attention. To strengthen the response, state clearly which side outweighs the other and support that judgement with a developed comparison, including how a placement could benefit students. The response meets the stated length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for benefits and drawbacks, and a concluding paragraph. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand,” “Moreover,” and “Furthermore” help signal the direction of ideas. However, progression is limited because the conclusion largely repeats the concern about cost rather than bringing the comparison together, and some connections are repetitive or unclear. For instance, “For example” is used twice in the drawbacks paragraph, and the second example restates the point about distraction without adding much development. The phrase “Besides the advantages” also introduces drawbacks awkwardly. Build a clearer line of argument by linking each example to the main claim and using the conclusion to summarise why one side outweighs the other.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “different cultures and backgrounds,” “manage finances,” and “academic institution.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are repetitive or imprecise, such as repeated references to going “abroad” and “study.” Some word choices and collocations are unnatural, including “practica life skils,” “manage house,” and “do not much money.” Spelling errors such as “Forexample” and “skils” also reduce accuracy. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall message, but they make parts of the response less fluent. Aim for more precise phrases such as “gain practical skills,” “manage a household,” and “cannot afford the costs,” and check spelling and spacing carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a reason clause beginning “This is because” and a conditional-style explanation with “when a student goes out of their home country.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in basic agreement, verb forms and sentence construction. Examples include “some people says,” “a student travel,” “a person learn,” and “they got distracted.” There are also problems with articles and phrasing, as in “manage house,” and the final sentence is difficult to follow because “should see every student” does not form a clear grammatical idea in context. Practise subject–verb agreement and consistent present-tense forms, then revise each sentence to ensure its clauses express a complete, clear relationship.

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

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