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)

Nowdays, gaining practical experience and gain international experience are very important for universities student. Some people believe that all the university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abraod or doing a work placement, i strongly agree the advantages of this approach outweight the disadvantages.

There are several advantages of studing and working abraod. Firstly, student can improve their international exposure and career prospects, which help them to get a great job opportunity in future. Secondly, they can develep communication skills and interact different cultural background people. Moreover, it makes them more independent and they can also learn how to manage their finance. For instance, maintaining house rent, health insurance and accomodation, they can manage everything own their own.

Although, universities provide theoritical knowlege and critical thinking and workplacement allows them to apply what they have learn in real life situation. For example, student have a good knowledge about bussiness management but struggle to run a company because lack of leardership quality and communication skills. This experience boost their confidence and increase their chances to get great opportunity after graduation.

There are some notable drawbacks, studying abroad are expensive, many parents cant afford. Moreover, students have to manage study and finance at the same time which can be lead to be stress. One of the main disadvantage is that living expense are very high, students manage their accomodation and house rents own their own. In additon, student may experience homesickness and struggle to adjust to a new environment.

In conclusion, although studying abraod or working can involve difficulties and problems. I believe that the benefits are considerably greater. Practical experience, international exposure, communication sills can prepare students for better carreer opportunities in future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction (“I strongly agree”) and conclusion, and you address both the benefits and drawbacks before explaining why the benefits outweigh them. Relevant points include improved career prospects, communication skills, independence, practical application of learning, cost, stress, and homesickness. The response also includes examples, such as a business student struggling to run a company without leadership experience. This meets the task well, with some elements of a fuller response already present. However, several ideas are asserted rather than fully explained: for example, the link between managing rent and becoming independent could be made clearer, and the disadvantages receive less development than the benefits. Explain how each point affects students and compare its importance to the advantages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on practical experience, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” “Moreover,” and “In addition” help readers follow the points. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, with several ideas linked mainly by lists of transitions. The paragraph beginning “Although, universities provide theoretical knowledge” is not clearly connected to the preceding discussion and would work better as part of the advantages paragraph, with a clearer topic sentence. Some references are also vague, such as “This experience,” which could refer to studying abroad or work placement. Use clearer links between claims and examples, and organise related benefits together.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for the topic, including “international exposure,” “career prospects,” “critical thinking,” “leadership quality,” and “homesickness.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and some attempts at more specific language are evident. However, spelling errors and inaccurate word forms are noticeable, including “abraod,” “develep,” “theoritical,” “knowlege,” and “accomodation.” Some collocations are also unnatural, such as “interact different cultural background people,” “manage their finance,” and “great job opportunity.” These issues make the expression less precise, even though the overall meaning is generally understandable. Check spelling carefully and learn common word partnerships, for example “interact with people from different cultural backgrounds” and “manage their finances.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “career prospects, which help them…” and a contrast between benefits and drawbacks. The overall message remains understandable, but control is inconsistent: some sentences contain several grammatical problems, and complex constructions are not always handled successfully. For example, “Although, universities provide theoretical knowledge and critical thinking and work placement allows them…” has an unclear structure, while “students have to manage study and finance … which can be lead to be stress” contains faulty verb patterns. There are also recurring agreement and article errors, as in “student can improve” and “living expense are.” Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, plurals, and verb patterns, then proofread each sentence for a clear grammatical structure.

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