Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-12

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)

In today's world, competition has escalated and become an integral part for every individual. Due to the competition, individual continuing their education also requires many practical skill to develop their career. Thus, all university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. From my perspective, the benefits of this outweigh the drawbacks.

To commence with one side, the most prominent profit of spending studying abroad or doing a work placement is that it helps an individual learn new skill and develop many different practical skill while continuing their education. For example, a student just focusing on their education might be able to achieve good grades in the courses, but they might not learn skills which their classmate may learn while doing internship. Another prominent advantage is that it facilitates their learning of maintaining a balance between their life and studies.

Moving further, another asset of this is that it educates them about the real-world experiences which helps them in their personal growth. Studying abroad might help them expand their academic goal and scope, as there are many courses available in different countries which might not be present in their universities. This will help them gain practical knowledge while still learning theoretical insight.

Conversely, an opposing view can be made because spending time studying abroad or doing a work placement might cause an imbalance between their education and life, causing stress because of many requirements. If universities includes such requirements as an essential, then, it may cause a disruption in their study schedules. Such disruption can cause many problems like financial instability, delay in their plannings and many more which might lead to loss of motivation.

To conclude, there are plethora of benefits of this, however, the disadvantages of this can not be neglected. Therefore, universities should be accountable in providing some financial aid or Scholarships to decrease logistic gaps.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, such as the development of practical skills and personal growth. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the mention of 'financial instability' and 'delay in plannings' as disadvantages is a good start, but these points are not fully explored or supported with concrete examples. The argument remains somewhat general throughout. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific examples or detailed explanations to support your claims, ensuring that the link between the requirement and the outcome is clearly articulated.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'Moving further', and 'Conversely', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive. Additionally, there are minor issues with referencing; for example, in the second paragraph, the phrase 'a student just focusing on their education' is followed by 'their classmate', but the connection between these subjects could be smoother. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and paragraphing is used appropriately.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'integral part', 'facilitates', 'theoretical insight', and 'financial instability'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'prominent profit' is not a standard collocation; 'significant benefit' would be more natural. Similarly, 'educates them about the real-world experiences' is slightly awkward; 'exposes them to real-world experiences' would be better. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, the lack of precision in some areas prevents a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. For instance, 'individual continuing their education also requires many practical skill' should be 'individuals continuing their education also require many practical skills'. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and pluralization, such as 'If universities includes' (should be 'include') and 'many practical skill' (should be 'skills'). These errors are noticeable but do not impede overall communication. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic agreement and pluralization errors.

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

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