Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-30

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)

It is often debated whether including spenting time on studying abroad or work placement is beneficial or more drawbacks. As far as I am concerned I beleive that it has more disadvantages then having advantages.

To begin with, there are few pros of moving abroad for studiying or work placement due to several reasons. One of the prominent reasons is personal growth which includes confidence, independence and imroving professional skills. Similarly, career readiness is another major factor of it.

On the other hand, there are several cons of not including abroad study or work placement for undergraduate pupils. Financial burden is one of the main factor for most of the pupils specially low backgrounds. Likewise, another reason of it creates academic delays. To explain it, when pupils are going abroad for work placement they have more academics pressure and they also cannot focus more on studies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You state a clear view—that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages—and identify relevant points on both sides, including personal growth, career readiness, financial burden and academic delays. However, the response addresses the question only minimally: the advantages are listed rather than explained, and the disadvantages are not clearly tied to why a compulsory period abroad or a placement would be harmful. The claim that students face “more academics pressure” needs clarification and a specific example. The response also does not meet the required minimum of 250 words, leaving too little space to develop reasons and support your position. Explain each main point, compare its importance, and add a relevant example before concluding.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic structure: an opening position, a paragraph introducing advantages, and a contrastive paragraph about disadvantages. Linking phrases such as “To begin with,” “Similarly,” and “On the other hand” help signal the intended direction. However, the progression is limited because each point is introduced briefly without explanation or supporting detail, and the final paragraph ends without a conclusion that restates the comparison. Some connections are also unclear: “another reason of it creates academic delays” does not clearly show how the idea relates to the previous sentence. Develop one idea at a time, use clear cause-and-effect links, and add a concluding paragraph to make the argument feel complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “personal growth,” “confidence,” “independence,” “career readiness,” and “financial burden.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond very basic terms. However, the range is narrow, and several spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy, such as “spenting,” “beleive,” “studiying,” and “imroving.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, including “low backgrounds,” “undergraduate pupils,” and “academics pressure.” Choose more natural academic collocations and check spelling carefully. For example, “students from low-income backgrounds” and “academic pressure” would express your intended meanings more clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple sentences and a longer explanatory sentence beginning “To explain it, when pupils are going abroad…,” so there is some variety in structure. The opening also communicates your position directly. However, control is uneven, particularly in sentence construction and agreement. In “there are few pros … due to several reasons,” the relationship between the ideas is awkward, while “Financial burden is one of the main factor” has a singular–plural agreement error. The final sentence is difficult to follow because its clauses are joined without a clear grammatical relationship. Practise building accurate complex sentences with clear subjects and connectors, and check articles, agreement and punctuation when revising.

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