Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Nowadays many large international companies offer their staff the opportunity to spend a period of time living and working in another country.

Why might this opportunity be good for employees?

What advantages does this development have for companies?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Recently, big firms have offered their employees the chance to live for a certain period of time in a foreign country, which benefits them by gaining international exposure as well as learning a new culture.

There are a plethora of reasons why claiming this opportunity will be beneficial. Employees will gain international experience, which can help them to apply for a senior position within the company itself. As an example, an employee who gains international experience increases their prospects of getting a promotion. Furthermore, there are a number of workers who would like to work outside their home country to understand different cultures. Although it would cost them learning a new language and environment.

Companies could benefit the most from this programme. Employees who gain international experience can create an opportunity to understand the market and may create a chance to open a business in the new country. Loyal workers of the company may bring knowledge and technology.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions: employees may gain international experience and cultural understanding, while companies may learn about overseas markets and benefit from workers’ knowledge. These are relevant points, but they are only briefly explained. For example, the promotion example repeats the claim about international experience without showing how that experience improves an employee’s suitability for a senior role. The company benefits are also unclear: “may create a chance to open a business” does not explain how staff contribute to this, and “bring knowledge and technology” needs a specific explanation or example. The response is 158 words, below the required 250, so the ideas and supporting details are substantially limited. Develop each benefit with a clear explanation and a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to employee benefits and then company benefits. Linking expressions such as “Furthermore” and “As an example” help signal relationships between points. However, progression within paragraphs is limited because several ideas are stated without being connected or explained. The sentence beginning “Although” is a fragment and does not clearly connect to the preceding point. In the final paragraph, the links between international experience, understanding a market, opening a business, and bringing technology are not made explicit. Use complete sentences and organise each paragraph around a main benefit, followed by its explanation and an example. This would make the overall progression clearer and cohesion less abrupt.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “international exposure,” “senior position,” “promotion,” “different cultures,” and “loyal workers.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and attempts such as “a plethora” show willingness to use less common language. Some expressions are imprecise or do not collocate naturally: “a plethora of reasons why claiming this opportunity” is awkward, “it would cost them learning” does not express the intended difficulty, and “create an opportunity to understand the market” is unclear. “Big firms” is understandable but informal for this essay. Aim for precise business-related phrasing, such as describing employees as developing market knowledge or gaining cross-cultural skills, and check that less common expressions fit their context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, and several sentences are clear, including “Employees will gain international experience, which can help them to apply for a senior position within the company itself.” The opening sentence also uses a relative clause to connect the opportunity with its benefits. Some grammatical errors remain, but they generally do not prevent understanding. Most notably, “Although it would cost them learning a new language and environment” is an incomplete subordinate clause; connect it to a main clause and use a grammatically suitable construction. The phrase “why claiming this opportunity will be beneficial” also has an incorrect structure after “why.” Practise combining clauses accurately and review sentence completeness, especially when beginning with subordinating words such as “although.”

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