Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-11-01

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 6.5)

Students who are exhausted from studying or want to explore before committing to a particular degree often take a gap year. I partially agree that, gaining first hand experience or travelling could lead to personal growth and clarity but at the same time students could lose academic momentum and become financially burdened.

First of all, school can drain a student's energy. For this reason, before starting university a lot of people wants to go on tours before getting engaged in studies again. This helps students release stress and become motivated again. Moreover, living in a different country, doing their own chores and meeting with new people enables them with experiences that impacts their confident. On the other hand, doing a job makes them gain hands-on experience. They would be able to explore different jobs and see what they like. Later, they can choose their study subject accordingly. The gap year could provide them more clarity.

However, long-term break from studies could students feel detached. They sometimes find it harder to get back to studies. For example, after travelling for a year, the student could lose the habit of studying regularly. This would impact their academic performance. Furthermore, if they have a job and get a salary they could be uncertain about leaving the job and continuing studies. But in the long-term without a degree professional growth would be stagnant, as for most high paying jobs require university degree.

In conclusion, students can take a gap year when they are fatigued or lost about their career goal. It can help them gain real life experiences and choose what they want to study further. But taking a year out could pose serious risks that can impact academic life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear: you partially agree, recognising both the personal and career benefits of a gap year and the risk of losing academic momentum. You address both sides of the question and give relevant explanations, such as travel helping students recover from study fatigue and work helping them identify a suitable subject. The discussion of returning to study is also supported with a plausible example. This meets the task well, while showing some of the development expected at a stronger level. However, several points remain general: the claim that meeting people builds confidence, for instance, is not explained with a specific illustration, and the financial burden mentioned in the introduction is not developed later. Extend these ideas and connect them more explicitly to how non-academic experience benefits students when they resume education.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your position, the body paragraphs present benefits and drawbacks, and the conclusion restates the balanced view. Ideas generally progress logically, and signposts such as “First of all,” “On the other hand,” “However,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument. This is a coherent response with clear paragraphing. At times, though, the linking is somewhat formulaic, and some connections between claims could be made more explicit. For example, the discussion moves from living abroad and doing chores to confidence without showing precisely how those experiences build it. The reference to “they” in “if they have a job and get a salary they could be uncertain” is also slightly broad. Use transitions more selectively and make relationships between examples and claims clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “gap year,” “hands-on experience,” “academic momentum,” “career goal,” and “professional growth.” These phrases help communicate the main ideas, and the meaning remains clear throughout. There are also attempts at less common or precise expressions, but some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, which limits flexibility. For example, “release stress” would more naturally be “relieve stress,” while “impacts their confident” uses the wrong form and “high paying jobs” is less natural than “high-paying jobs.” “Go on tours” is also imprecise for travelling during a gap year. Aim to learn vocabulary in natural collocations and check word forms so that your ideas sound more precise and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including conditional forms (“if they have a job… they could be uncertain”) and clauses introduced by “before,” “while,” and “as.” Most sentences communicate their meaning, and the errors do not generally prevent understanding. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain, however. In “a lot of people wants,” the plural subject requires “want”; “could students feel detached” needs a structure such as “could make students feel detached”; and “as for most high paying jobs require” contains an unnecessary “for” and an incomplete connection. There are also issues with articles and agreement in “long-term break” and “experiences that impacts.” Review subject–verb agreement and the structure of modal verbs, and proofread complex sentences to ensure each clause is grammatically complete.

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