Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-04

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)

Moving abroad to study or doing a work placement for a specific time period are some of the aspects that

ought to be comprised within all universities undergraduate degrees. I believe that the proposal is highly

advantageous as it could bring a number of merits in terms of gaining experience and building connections.

Nowadays, some educational institutions offer internships to students, while a few have also started study

exchange programs. Firstly, achieving a degree from abroad adds great value to a student's educational

background and career because individuals who travel overseas to study are usually considered to be highly

qualified and more experienced due to their exceptional knowledge and discipline. Secondly, doing a job or

an internship at a company while studying provides early awareness of the job market and also helps in

improving the financial situation of a student to some extent. In addition, this opportunity also gives a chance

to the youth to do networking by engaging and interacting with the professionals and take their advices to opt

a perfect career for themselves.

Conversely, there are certain demerits of this idea as well such as high costs to study abroad. Students have

to show and spend a huge amount in order to study abroad. This is because the top scholarships are highly

competitive, thus only a few candidates are able to achieve them. Along with this, it is also quite difficult to

secure a job at some workplace as most of the organizations are reluctant to hire unexperienced employees.

This situation becomes more stressful when the aspirants have to compete for those limited seats in order to

gain work experience.

In conclusion, the merits of this thought overshadow its demerits. Although studying abroad or doing work

placements is really tough, in the future they play a vital role in strengthening one's career.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Your ideas are relevant, such as the benefits of networking and the challenges of high costs. However, some points could be developed further. For instance, while you mention that internships help with financial situations, this is a complex claim that requires more specific explanation or evidence to be fully convincing. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance, though it could be more nuanced to reflect the complexity of the topic. Overall, the response is well-structured and directly answers the question asked.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'In addition', and 'Conversely' to guide the reader through your arguments. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the advantages from the disadvantages. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions could be more sophisticated to improve the overall cohesion. For example, the link between the introduction and the first body paragraph is clear, but the transition into the counter-argument could be slightly more fluid to enhance the logical progression of your ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'educational institutions', 'competitive', and 'aspirants'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'take their advices' (advice is uncountable) and 'opt a perfect career' (the verb 'opt' usually requires 'for'). You also use 'unexperienced' instead of the more standard 'inexperienced'. While you attempt to use less common vocabulary, these small errors prevent a higher score. Focusing on collocations and the correct usage of uncountable nouns will help you achieve a higher band in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'all universities undergraduate degrees' (should be 'all university undergraduate degrees') and 'the youth to do networking' (should be 'the youth to network'). Additionally, 'take their advices' is grammatically incorrect as mentioned previously. Despite these errors, your meaning is always clear, and the mistakes do not impede communication. To improve, try to incorporate a wider variety of complex structures, such as conditional sentences or passive voice, while ensuring subject-verb agreement and correct article usage.

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

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