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)
Many university undergraduated courses are arguing whether or not they should include a periode of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.Even though these idea is supported by many universities, some of them still hesitate about wether it is a good or bad thing for student. In my perspective, the advantage will without any doubt outweigh the disadvantages as studying abroad or doing a work placement is a brilliant experience for the student to improve their cvs, have a real hand on experiences and for careers opportunities.
One major advantage of including a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement is that student will have the chance to enteract with the professional word especially by taking part in internship. From my own experience, my studies in college icluded 3 internships where i developped a lot of new skills, enteract with experienced people learned from therm and build my own web sites that helped improve my cv. One benefint of studying abroad that student have the chance to search for new opportunities in new countries and learn new things and new technologies from other student and teachers.
Alghought this method had its own disadvantage, as a lot of student don't see this as an opportunity to grow but an opportunity to rest and most of them usually become lasy and neglect their work. Also university belive by doing an international exchange they may lose their brillant student as they will chose to persuing their studies abroad.
In conclusion, even though this idea my have some disadvantages I strongly believe that including a period of time spend studying aboad or doing a work placement is the best desicion to improve the quality of courses and to help student develop a strong backend and have a better career opportunities.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
Your position is clear from the introduction: you believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and the conclusion restates this view. You address both study abroad and work placements, using your college internships as relevant personal support. However, the benefits are not developed equally: the work-placement example includes skills, professional contact and CV improvement, while the study-abroad point mainly lists possible opportunities and learning without explaining their impact. The disadvantages are also briefly presented, particularly students neglecting work and universities losing strong students, but their significance is not explored or weighed against the benefits. Develop these points with clearer explanations and examples so the comparison directly supports your judgement.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages and a conclusion. This gives the reader an overall route through your argument, and phrases such as “One major advantage” and “In conclusion” signal the stages. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “One benefint of studying abroad that student…” does not clearly connect to the preceding internship example, and the shift from student laziness to universities losing students is abrupt. Use clearer topic sentences and explain how each supporting point relates to the main claim. Check referencing and sentence boundaries as well, so ideas flow smoothly rather than appearing as a list.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “internship,” “professional,” “international exchange,” “opportunities” and “career.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, but the range and control are limited by repeated general wording such as “new things,” “new opportunities” and “student.” There are also noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, including “undergraduated,” “periode,” “enteract,” “benefint” and “lasy,” which can distract the reader. Some combinations are imprecise: “real hand on experiences” and “strong backend” do not express the intended academic or career benefits naturally. Build a more accurate set of collocations for skills, employability and international study, and proofread spelling and word forms.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You use both simple statements and attempts at complex sentences, including the opening concession beginning “Even though” and the contrast in “Alghought this method had its own disadvantage.” The overall meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in agreement, articles, verb forms and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “these idea is supported” has a mismatch between determiner, noun and verb, while “student will have the chance” needs consistent plural or singular agreement. In the internship example, several actions are joined without clear punctuation or parallel verb forms. Practise checking subject–verb agreement, articles and consistent tense, and divide long or crowded sentences into complete, clearly punctuated units.
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