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 offers benefits the individual when they return to education by improving their concentration, and their overall well-being.

One major advantage of taking a year out between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel is that it improves the concentration of the learner. This is largely because young people can see and face the real world on their own. Essentially, most of them may hear that education is good from their tutors and their parents, which might not be realistically true to them. Meaning, if they face it first hand, most of them may return to their studies with a greater focus and may also set realistic academic goals. As a result of this, they tend to concentrate more after taking a break.

Another benefit of taking a break after school is that it improves the well-being of the learner. Schooling can cause significant stress to a learner due to academic pressure. When a learner takes a year out before returning to education to travel, it is likely that the stress levels may reduce, which can improve their mental well-being.

To conclude, although 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 strongly believe that the experience of non-academic life this offers benefits the individual when they return to education by improving concentration and mental health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position ("I largely believe that the experience of non-academic life this offers benefits the individual when they return to education") and maintaining it throughout the response. The ideas are relevant and supported, focusing on improved concentration and mental well-being. However, the development tends to be somewhat repetitive and lacks specific examples or concrete illustrations to fully flesh out the arguments, which keeps the response at a Band 6.0 level rather than a higher band. The arguments are presented clearly, but further extension with real-world examples would elevate the task response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall progression and logical arrangement, with distinct introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as "One major advantage," "Another benefit," and "To conclude." However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or repetitive in structure (e.g., repeatedly using "in order to gain work experience or to travel"). Paragraphing is used appropriately, but overall the cohesive control is somewhat basic, fitting the descriptors for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as "contemporary society," "well-being," "academic pressure," and "real world." There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, though phrase repetition occurs, such as the repeated inclusion of the full phrase "between finishing school and starting university in order to gain work experience or to travel." Word choice is generally appropriate and communication is never impeded, which aligns well with a Band 6.0 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over relative clauses and conditional-like constructions (e.g., "if they face it first hand, most of them may return..."). There are some minor awkward phrasings such as "might not be realistically true to them. Meaning, if they face it..." but grammatical errors are infrequent and do not impede communication. Punctuation is generally sound. The grammatical range and accuracy comfortably meet the criteria for a Band 6.5.

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

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