Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-14

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)

Many large companies nowadays prefer their workers to work in another country when needed. This might be contributing to several issues. Let's discuss.

If we look at the perspective of the job role, many positions, such as regional managers, need to be travelling for work purposes. What some companies tend to do is that they give the permanent position and a good salary to attain the job deed in one particular country itself. This not only gives the employee the benefits of the position, but it also contributes to many factors. One of them is learning to adapt to the work culture in a different country. In recent years, I was assigned to Japan to oversee the operation. It took me a few weeks to familiarise myself with their system, as they tend to have a fast-paced work culture. In this case, it also helps one to mentally and emotionally adapt to the surrounding country. Leaning the extra language has also benefited the employee in that the skill is upgraded and could contribute to the company growing. The company will also benefit from the skills contributed by the employee, and this will be a stepping stone for the company to perform well. Living and working in another country is also a great opportunity to upgrade oneself by learning the skills and getting into some other position with the experiences gained.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions by discussing employees’ cultural and language learning and the company’s access to skills that may support its growth. The Japan assignment is a relevant personal example, and the point about adapting to a different work culture helps explain a benefit for staff. However, the company advantages are only briefly asserted: “the skills contributed by the employee” and “a stepping stone” are not developed with a clear explanation or example. The opening also says the arrangement may contribute to “several issues,” which suggests problems rather than answering the task directly. The response is 20 words below the required minimum, and this limits the space available to explain both parts. Develop each benefit with a specific cause and outcome, and state your focus clearly from the start.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic sequence from the general topic to employee benefits and then company benefits, and linking phrases such as “One of them” and “In this case” help connect some points. However, the response is presented as one paragraph, so the shift from employees’ experiences to advantages for companies is not clearly signposted. The opening “Let’s discuss” does not establish a clear direction, while “This” in “This might be contributing to several issues” is unclear and does not lead logically into the benefits that follow. Some ideas also repeat, particularly the references to learning skills and upgrading oneself. Use separate paragraphs for the two questions, and make each paragraph progress from a main point to its explanation and example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “work culture,” “familiarise,” “fast-paced,” and “adapt,” which allows you to describe the employee’s experience. There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “oversee the operation.” However, several phrases are imprecise or unnatural, including “attain the job deed,” “the surrounding country,” and “the company growing.” “Leaning the extra language” appears to be a spelling error and is also an awkward way to express language learning. These choices sometimes make the intended meaning less clear, although the main ideas remain understandable. Aim for accurate workplace collocations and check spelling; for example, describe an employee as taking up an overseas post and gaining language proficiency.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the structure “This not only gives the employee … but it also contributes …” and a subordinate clause beginning “as they tend to have a fast-paced work culture.” Most sentences communicate their basic meaning, and errors do not generally prevent understanding. Some sentence patterns are awkward or incomplete in their grammatical construction, however. For example, “What some companies tend to do is that they give the permanent position” is not well formed after “is that,” and “Living and working … is also a great opportunity to upgrade oneself by learning the skills and getting into some other position” has an unclear relationship between the actions. Review clause patterns and parallel structures, and vary sentence forms while keeping each sentence’s meaning precise.

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