Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-20

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)

In contemporary society, many young people choose to take a year out between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel. I largely believe that the experience of non-academic life this break offers benefits the individual academically when they return to education because it does not only improve their overall well-being but also elevates their concentration.

One major reason why most students take a year out after finishing school is to gain experience. This is largely because studying alone is not sufficient in building individual career. Consider a student who is persuing a teaching career, sometimes the period for teaching practice given by the university may not be enough for the learners to fully gain experience. For this reason, many young people choose to take a break, which helps improve their concentration when they return to education.

Furthermore, others may opt to travel before returing to education because it helps them to re-energise and reduce stress that might have been caused by classroom environment. For example, if a student takes a trip after school, he or she may become re-enegised and exited. This helps in their overall well-being in the long run.

To conclude, although most young people choose to take a year out between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel. I strongly believe that it helps them academically when they return to education by improving their concentration and their overall well-being.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the benefits of taking a gap year, specifically focusing on work experience and travel, and takes a clear position in agreement. Ideas are introduced and supported with examples, such as a student pursuing a teaching career and the benefits of travelling to reduce stress. However, the response falls slightly short of the minimum 250-word requirement, clocking in at 246 words. This minor under-length impacts the full development of the ideas and leads to a slight penalty in Task Achievement. Nevertheless, all parts of the task are addressed, and the position is clear throughout, aligning best with a Band 6.0 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised, and the progression of ideas is generally logical. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'For example', and 'To conclude' are employed to guide the reader through the text, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. Referencing and paragraph structure are acceptable, ensuring that the relationships between ideas are clear, which satisfies the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and academic phrases such as 'contemporary society' and 'overall well-being'. However, there are a few noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'persuing' instead of 'pursuing', 'returing' instead of 'returning', and 're-enegised' and 'exited' instead of 're-energised' and 'excited'. Despite these slips, communication is not impeded, placing the vocabulary performance firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional-like phrasing and relative clauses effectively. There are several grammatical errors and typos present, such as 'it does not only improve' (awkward correlative pairing) and fragment issues in the concluding sentence ('To conclude, although most young people choose... I strongly believe...'). However, these errors rarely impede overall communication and demonstrate a reasonable control of grammar, fitting comfortably into the Band 6.0 band.

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

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