Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-19

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 6.0)

Nowadays, it is prevalent for many young people to take a year gap to gain some experience in work or to travel between their finishing school and starting university. I strongly agree with the statement that this experience benefits the people when they return to their education.

In todays world, numerous students tend to take a year out after they finish their higher education from college. There are several advantages of taking a gap year, as students will become mature and they will be able to make their own decisions. In addition, they can do any temporary job to get some experience and it will make them financially better and independent. They can also use this time to set their future goal and can get some information about the major course, which they are planning to take in their university. The students can aslo travel to diffenrent places to gain some knowledge and explore various things. For instance, if a student, who belong to low-income family, can take a year out after school to work in a job, so that he could make up his own personal and educational expenses and also support his family.

On the other hand, they are many drawbacks for taking a gap year for students. They will not be able to concentrate propoerply on their education, because they will have to start from zero in their university. Moreover, they will try to ingnore their studies and will want to work further in order to support themselves and their families. It will be challenging for them to focus on their educational life. For example, if a student takes a gap for year, then he will obviously miss the enjoyment he used to have when he was free and will find it arduous to continue his studies further, which will directly effect his whole life and career.

In conclusion, although they are cons of taking a year out, they are also numerous pros of this, which will outweigh them and i comletely agree that it is better to take a gap year after finishing college.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student addresses all parts of the task and establishes a clear, consistent position throughout the essay in agreement with the prompt. Relevant ideas regarding maturity, financial independence, and future goal setting are presented and supported with examples, such as a student from a low-income family working to support themselves. However, some arguments lack full extension and slip into slight over-generalisation, such as the counter-argument suggesting students will 'start from zero' or ignore studies entirely. Overall, the task response is well-rounded, meeting the Band 7 criteria where all parts are addressed and a clear position is maintained with supported ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information is divided into logical paragraphs with an introduction, two body paragraphs exploring pros and cons, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'For instance', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used to connect ideas, though some transitional phrases feel slightly mechanical or repetitive in structure. Referencing is generally clear, and paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct thematic arguments. This aligns closely with Band 6.5 to 7.0, with clear progression that merits a solid Band 7 rating.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'financial independent', 'temporary job', and 'arduous'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice inaccuracies throughout the text, including 'prevalent' (used slightly awkwardly as 'it is prevalent for'), 'todays' instead of 'today's', 'aslo' instead of 'also', 'diffenrent' instead of 'different', 'propoerply' instead of 'properly', 'ingnore' instead of 'ignore', 'effect' instead of 'affect', and 'comletely' instead of 'completely'. These errors do not impede overall communication, but the frequency of spelling slips prevents the lexical score from reaching Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses (e.g., 'a student, who belong to low-income family, can take a year out...'). There are, however, several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing choices, such as 'take a year gap', 'between their finishing school', 'they are many drawbacks' (instead of 'there are'), 'takes a gap for year', and subject-verb agreement slips ('who belong' instead of 'who belongs'). Despite these frequent errors, meaning is rarely obscured and communication remains clear. This profile fits the Band 6 descriptor well.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.