Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-04

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)

Everyone has a dream of getting degree from well reputed institutes in order to get a better and successful future ahead. Universities itself plays a vital role in students lives because through them students will get those opportunities that are not easily accessible.

For these reason I completely agreed with having privilege of learning and working in abroad during undergraduate studies. Because I believe that this opportunity will help them to grow professionally as well as personally. They will experience different cultures and they will understand how better they can improvised these thing in their own country so that people over there can excel too.

Abroad opportunities like studying or getting professional experience through internships in your undergraduate helps a student to explore and think out of the box. Those who get such exposure are always ahead of those who haven’t got such opportunities.

I believe this is the best thing students can have to excel personally and professionally.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You take a clear position in favour of overseas study or work placements, stating that they support students’ professional and personal growth. This is relevant to the question, but the response addresses the task only partially: it does not explain whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and it gives no disadvantages to compare. The claims that students experience different cultures and “think out of the box” are asserted rather than developed with reasons or a specific example. The response is also 91 words below the required minimum, leaving too little space to develop the argument. To strengthen your answer, discuss both sides, explain why one outweighs the other, and support each main point with a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall arrangement: it introduces the importance of universities, states your position, and then gives reasons in favour of overseas opportunities. Linking expressions such as “For these reason” and “Because” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, the progression is limited, and the final paragraph largely repeats the claim that the experience helps students excel rather than adding a new point or drawing a comparison. The sentence beginning “Because I believe” is also left as a fragment, which weakens the connection to the preceding sentence. Use separate paragraphs for advantages, disadvantages, and your conclusion, and make the links between claims and explanations more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “professional experience,” “internships,” “different cultures,” and “undergraduate studies.” These choices make your general meaning understandable. However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “getting degree,” “well reputed institutes,” “privilege of learning and working in abroad,” and “improvised these thing.” Repetition of “students,” “opportunities,” and “excel” also limits flexibility. Aim for more precise academic collocations and check word forms and spelling; for example, describe students as gaining “international experience” and applying what they learn in their home country. This would make your argument clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the clause “because through them students will get those opportunities” and the sentence about experiencing different cultures. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. Examples include “Universities itself plays,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “students lives,” which needs a possessive form. “For these reason I completely agreed” has problems with number and verb form, while “Because I believe…” is an incomplete sentence. There are also errors in articles and sentence construction, as in “getting degree.” Practise building complete sentences with accurate agreement, articles, and punctuation, then check each sentence for a clear subject and main verb.

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

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