Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-12

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)

It is believed that in the tertiary levels of education it is necessary to include overseas learning and fieldwork. From my perspective, this view has some disadvantages but its advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

In contemporary society, international tour for study purposes is not affordable for all categories students. Not only students have to consider about the travel cost, but they have to consider the accomodation costs. Which is quite difficult for students who are not financillay dependent to their parents. Moreover, maximum students need a job to support their families. But most of the field work in our country don't provide any salaries. Therefore, students lose their interest to continue the field work. For instance, after completing undergraduation, they want to become financially independent, as they have to support their family.

On the other hand, work placement can enhance the skills and provide experiences. Which help them to find a better job. For example, a civil engineer is expected to do better in worklife, if the person is familiar with the field work. As they get a hands on experince from working placement. Furthermore, studying abroad for a fixed time can help students to know about other cultures and eventually it helps them to respect the people of other country. Although, internation travel is quite expensive, it is worthwhile as it broaden the horizon of students.

In conclusion, despite having some financial issues, working placement and study abroad can elaborate students knowledge. So the authorities can take some steps to overcome the disadvantages. Such as, an amount of salary should be provide to the students and studying abroad should be free for all the students.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you acknowledge disadvantages but argue that the benefits are greater. You address both sides with relevant points, including costs and family responsibilities on one side, and employability and cultural understanding on the other. The civil-engineering example helps illustrate the value of practical experience. However, some ideas are asserted rather than fully explained: for instance, the claim that placements improve job prospects could be developed by showing how workplace skills or contacts help graduates. The final recommendation that study abroad should be free also needs clearer connection to how this would be funded or made feasible. The response covers the task well overall, but development is uneven.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on disadvantages, a paragraph on advantages, and a conclusion. The contrast between the two main body paragraphs is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Moreover,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” help guide the reader. Some connections are less smooth, however. “Which is quite difficult…” and “Which help them…” are sentence fragments that interrupt the progression, while “But” begins a sentence where a more integrated link would be clearer. The conclusion introduces proposals without fully linking them to the preceding discussion. Use referencing and transitions more precisely, and connect each example directly to the point it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “tertiary levels,” “financially independent,” “work placement,” and “broaden the horizon.” These choices show an attempt to use a range beyond basic terms. However, noticeable spelling, word-form, and collocation problems reduce precision: “accomodation,” “financillay,” and “experince” are misspelled, while “international tour for study purposes” and “elaborate students knowledge” are unnatural in context. Some wording is also imprecise, such as “maximum students” and “worklife.” These issues do not prevent the main ideas from being understood, but they make parts of the response less natural. Focus on accurate topic collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex structures, including “Although international travel is quite expensive, it is worthwhile…” and the “Not only…but…” construction. The overall meaning is generally clear, but some sentence-boundary and agreement errors remain. “Which is quite difficult…” and “Which help them…” are dependent clauses presented as complete sentences; connect them to the preceding clauses. In “a civil engineer is expected to do better…, if the person…,” the comma is unnecessary, and “As they get…” is another fragment. There are also errors in patterns such as “consider about the travel cost” and “should be provide.” Improve clause control and check subject–verb agreement and verb forms; this will make your varied sentence attempts more consistently accurate.

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