Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-31

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)

Today, the majority of university students do a lot of additional activities besides their main subjects at their schedule like: studying others formations or having a part-time jobs. From my perspective, i totally agree with them and i suuport that all universities undergraduate courses should include those activities on their schedules. So what are the advantages of having work placement or studying abroad the university on students?.

First of all, it helped the students to enrich their background of the other domaines and also it developed their skills that would be so useful for their future career. for exemple,studying other language will be so useful for the students in which they could communicate effectively and making new realtionships with others by enhancing their personality and their mindsets.

Secondly, having a work placement or part-time jobs will help the students to enrich their cv by getting the experience and that would be so important especially if they are working in the same field that they are studing.For instance, the half of universities are concentrating more on the theoritical side rather than the practical one, so the students here are obliged to develop their partcital side abroad the campus.

Finally, it would be a support for students especially who are suffering from the financial fees.

On the other hand , we should not forget that this could have a set of disadventages on the students performances because there are many students who ignored their studies just because of the additional jobs that they are doing it or because of the other formations that they are studying it.

At the end, allowing to the students to practice their hobbies or to support themselves by working outside will get back with set of positive points on students future career and on all the universities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a clear general view in favour of including placements or overseas study, and you identify relevant benefits: developing skills, improving career prospects and helping students financially. You also acknowledge a disadvantage, namely that work or other activities may distract students from their studies. However, the position is not consistently focused on the exact proposal: the opening refers to “additional activities” and part-time jobs, while the task concerns a required period abroad or on placement. Several points are asserted rather than explained, such as how studying another language improves students’ future prospects. The conclusion repeats the benefits but does not weigh them against the academic risk. Develop fewer points with specific examples and explain why the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, benefit paragraphs, a counterpoint and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “First of all,” “Secondly,” and “On the other hand” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression is limited because the ideas are often listed rather than connected through explanation, and the final paragraph does not clearly resolve the comparison raised by the question. Some links are awkward or unclear, for example “Finally, it would be a support for students” does not specify how this point relates to the preceding discussion. Paragraphing is present, but the first two benefit paragraphs overlap in their focus on work and additional activities. Organise each paragraph around one distinct reason and use clear references and transitions to show how each reason supports your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “work placement,” “future career,” “experience,” “financial fees,” and “performances.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “enrich their background,” “other formations,” and “get back with set of positive points.” Spelling errors, including “suuport,” “realtionships,” and “disadventages,” are also noticeable and reduce the accuracy of the writing. Aim to use more precise academic expressions and check spelling carefully. For example, describe the benefits as gaining practical experience or broadening knowledge, rather than relying on general phrases such as “positive points.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a concession introduced by “On the other hand” and a reason clause beginning “just because.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and frequent errors sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “it helped the students” where the tense does not fit the general claim, “students who ignored their studies” where the intended meaning appears to be that they neglect them, and “the students … are obliged to develop their partcital side abroad the campus,” which is difficult to interpret grammatically. There are also problems with articles, agreement, sentence boundaries and punctuation, such as the comma splice in the opening. Practise accurate sentence patterns first, then extend them with subordinate clauses and check verb forms and punctuation.

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.