Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

Do you think the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages?

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

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Undergraduate programs should be versatile, academic curriculum alone is not enough to build a well-rounded undergraduate students. Including a studying abroad tenure in undergraduate program could be proven beneficial. As it could help develop students gain interpersonal skills, the most crucial skill that could be learnt is to survive alone without the help of parents and gardians in a new environment and a new place. Not only that studying abroad will also help students catter knowledge and ideas from people of other back grounds. Not only it will help the students gain confidence but also enhance their knowledge.

With all the pros there are cons to studying abroad too. It will definitely cause financial burden to students from unprivilaged backgrounds along with that students with disabilities might feel left out in this program.

Including work placement in the undergraduate program is also suggested which in my opnion is more beneficial to the students. As it will give the students professional accumen and they will learn will learn how things operate in real life other than the text books. Real life working experiences will teach them more than rot learnt knowledge. I will like to quote example of myself, I started working before graduating although I was earning minimal amount but it gave me a sense of freedom as I no longer had to ask my parents for pocket money. Along with that I learnt how to communicate with people in a corporate environment which led me ahead of my classmates.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both options in the prompt—studying abroad and work placement—and give relevant benefits and drawbacks. Your position is clearest when you say work placement is “more beneficial,” supported by your personal example of gaining independence and workplace communication skills. However, the response does not clearly answer whether the advantages of requiring either experience for all undergraduates outweigh the disadvantages. The financial burden and possible exclusion of students with disabilities are important counterpoints, but they are not weighed against the benefits or answered. Some ideas, such as learning to “survive alone,” are relevant but need fuller explanation. State your overall judgement directly and develop a comparison of the benefits and costs for different students.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: it first discusses studying abroad, then its disadvantages, and finally work placement, with a personal example to support the last point. Linking phrases such as “Not only that” and “Along with that” help connect ideas, and the paragraph breaks make the main topics visible. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The repeated “Not only” construction does not lead to a balanced “but also” structure, and “With all the pros there are cons” is a vague transition. The final paragraph ends with a benefit rather than a conclusion that brings the discussion back to the question. Use clearer topic sentences and a concluding paragraph that synthesises both options and states whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary, including “interpersonal skills,” “financial burden,” “professional acumen,” and “corporate environment,” which helps convey the topic. There are also attempts at less common expressions, but several choices or spellings are inaccurate and sometimes make the meaning less natural: “catter knowledge,” “rot learnt knowledge,” and “gardians,” for example. Some phrases are awkward or imprecise, such as “studying abroad tenure” and “academic curriculum alone.” These issues fit a response with adequate vocabulary but inconsistent control of word choice and spelling. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and proofread spelling; for instance, use “period of study abroad,” “gain knowledge,” and “rote learning” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including “As it will give the students professional acumen…” and the contrastive structure “Not only… but also…”. Meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. The opening has agreement and article problems in “a well-rounded undergraduate students,” while “Including a studying abroad tenure… could be proven beneficial” has an awkward clause structure. “As it could help develop students gain…” combines verb patterns incorrectly, and “students will learn will learn” repeats the verb. Sentence fragments beginning “As it could…” and “As it will…” also weaken control. Practise complete sentences, subject–verb agreement, and consistent verb patterns, then check each sentence for repeated words and punctuation.

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