Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-07-30

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Write about the following topic:

Many young people choose to take a year out between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel. The experience of non-academic life this offers benefits the individual when they return to education.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 7.5)

These days, an increasing number of students are choosing to take a gap year in order to gain work experience and to travel after graduating. I fully agree with the statement that the non-academic life offers many benefits to young people.

First and foremost, It must be considered that taking a gap year may cause some students to become less competitive after returning to schools. For example, subjects, such as

mathematics, computer science, and physics, require consistent effort made by students, but they will not be able to keep studying if they decide to spend one year working or traveling. Being less competitive among other students may in turn have a negative impact on their emotions, discouraging them from pursuing academic achievement.

Nevertheless, the advantages of stepping back from academic life usually overshadow its disadvantages. Individuals can gain work experience, broaden their horizons, and learn interpersonal skills. To illustrate this, being an employee forces young people to learn how to talk to people effectively as they have to communicate with various customers. Additionally, if students choose to travel to other countries, they will expose themselves to different cultures and people from different background, which may improve their empathy. These transferable skills can benefit students even in school life as communicating with people is what we do on a daily basis, which may ultimately foster students' academic performance.

In conclusion, although the absence from academic life may affect students' study in a short period of time, gaining some experience and practical skills can benefit their lives in the long run.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have addressed all parts of the prompt, clearly stating your position in the introduction and maintaining it throughout. You provided relevant arguments for both sides of the debate, which demonstrates a balanced approach. The ideas are generally well-developed, particularly the section on transferable skills like empathy and communication. To reach a higher band, ensure that the counter-argument regarding academic decline is more thoroughly supported with specific evidence or a more nuanced explanation of how this 'loss of competitiveness' is mitigated by the benefits gained. Overall, your response is focused and directly answers the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

Your essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Nevertheless', and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader through your argument. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the potential drawbacks to the more significant advantages. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate distinct ideas. To improve, try to vary your cohesive devices further, as some transitions are quite standard. Additionally, ensure that referencing is always precise to avoid any ambiguity between sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'transferable skills', 'interpersonal skills', and 'academic achievement' appropriately. You attempt to use less common vocabulary, which is good. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'returning to schools' (should be 'returning to university' or 'returning to education') and 'different background' (should be plural 'different backgrounds'). Expanding your range of topic-specific collocations and ensuring pluralization accuracy would help elevate your score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. Most of your sentences are clear and easy to follow. There are some minor grammatical errors, such as 'It must be considered that taking a gap year may cause some students to become less competitive after returning to schools' (the 'to schools' part is slightly unnatural). Additionally, there are occasional issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement. Despite these errors, your meaning is never obscured, and you demonstrate a solid grasp of basic and intermediate grammatical forms.

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