Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Undergraduate courses include different type of work from research to small innovations. University undergraduate courses must add different experiances like studying in another country for a new expeirance or doing work placement for some time throughout their academic experiance. I strongly beileve it's pros outweight the cons.

Studying abroad or doing a work placement have it's own advantages ,such as presenting an opportunity to students by giving them real experiance in addition to other theoretical approaches. For example,If a student is studying to become a doctor. He may be able to cover the theoretical portion in class but this will not be satsfactory as he might face different challanges he never studied about;however,by placing that student in hospital he can understand what he should expect when he is out of school and on work. This will also help students learn variety of experties by going abroad and learning skills from a different perspective as teachings are distinict form one country to the other

contraty to that it can place financial burden to students from ow income familiy if they are not provided scholrships. It might even make students feel overwelmed. For example if a student is requered to go abroad and study inorder to graduate the student may get into unnessecary loans just to graduate making the students life harder afer graduation

In conclusion, giving students real-life expreiances will benefit them by giving them the skills they may not learn in school but also it might be stressfull and an overwelming experiance.I think the things they learn are extramely useful though it have it on effects.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you believe the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, and you address both practical learning and financial or emotional costs. The hospital example helps explain how workplace experience can complement classroom theory. However, the advantages receive more explanation than the disadvantages, and the discussion of studying abroad is less specific than the work-placement example. The conclusion repeats your view but does not fully weigh the two sides or explain why the benefits are more significant. To strengthen the response, develop the disadvantage with a concrete consequence and then directly compare it with the long-term value of practical skills and international experience.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. The example about a medical student also gives the main supporting paragraph a clear focus. Some links between ideas are less smooth, however. The transition “contraty to that” is unclear, and the long advantages paragraph moves from workplace learning to studying abroad without a clear separation or explanation of their relationship. Referencing is occasionally confusing, as in “the student” followed by “the students life.” Use clearer transitions and divide or organise the two types of experience more deliberately. This would make the progression easier to follow without relying on a simple list of points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “theoretical approaches,” “financial burden,” “scholarships,” and “loans.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and several spelling and word-choice errors make the writing less precise, such as “experiances,” “challanges,” and “experties.” Some phrases are also unnatural, including “cover the theoretical portion” and “out of school and on work.” Aim to use accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise terms such as “gain practical experience” and “workplace skills” would help you express your ideas clearly and avoid repeating general words such as “experience” and “student.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional example beginning “If a student is studying to become a doctor” and a contrast introduced by “but.” The main meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “Studying abroad or doing a work placement have” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “it have it on effects” is difficult to interpret because the verb and pronouns are not controlled. There are also errors in articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries, such as “in hospital” and the run-on construction around “however.” Practise checking agreement and sentence boundaries, and make sure each complex sentence has a clear subject and verb.

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