Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-19

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 6.5)

Many people believe every undergraduate degree should have mandatory study abroad or work placement.

I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages because it benefits students' careers and personal growth, though some challenges exist.

To begin with, work placement gives real job experience which improves career benefits. Having real job experience leads to an improved CV and helps with future employment. Moreover, it also enhances practical skills for students when they apply classroom theory to real work situations. Furthermore, students get exposure to global awareness, different cultures, languages, and ways of thinking.

In addition, personal development occurs by building confidence, independence, adaptability, and problem-solving skills. For instance, engineering students doing internships in companies learn tools not taught in class.

Even though, there are certain drawbacks also, such as financial cost, academic disruption, and logistic issues. For instance, studying abroad or unpaid placements can be expensive for students as well as for their families. On the other hand, academic disruption may delay graduation or interrupt studies. Despite this, some degrees like medicine or pure maths may not benefit much from a placement. Similarly, visa problems, finding suitable placements, or language barriers for studying abroad also become challenging issues.

Thus, from my perception better job prospects and life-skills are more valuable than short-term costs. Eventually, universities can provide funding, scholarships and help arrange placements to reduce problems.

To conclude, despite costs and difficulties, the benefits of experience and global exposure are greater. Thus, universities should make it part of all undergraduate courses with proper support.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas regarding career benefits and personal development are relevant and supported by examples, such as engineering internships. However, the development of these points is somewhat brief. While the counter-arguments are acknowledged, they could be more thoroughly explored to demonstrate a deeper level of critical thinking. The conclusion effectively restates the position and offers a suggestion for implementation, which helps to fully address the task requirements. Overall, the response is well-focused and maintains a consistent stance throughout.

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, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', 'In addition', and 'On the other hand' are used effectively to link sentences and paragraphs. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the paragraphing could be more sophisticated to improve the flow. Referencing is generally clear, and the structure supports the overall argument well, meeting the requirements for a band 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is sufficient to convey the intended meaning clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific terminology such as 'academic disruption', 'global awareness', and 'practical skills'. While the range is adequate for the task, it lacks the variety and precision of more sophisticated lexical choices that would elevate the score to a higher band. Some word choices are repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'benefits' and 'problems'. Nevertheless, the vocabulary is accurate and does not impede communication, fitting the criteria for a band 6.5 or 7.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some minor grammatical slips, such as 'Even though, there are certain drawbacks also', which is slightly awkward in phrasing. Punctuation is generally correct, though some sentences could be refined for better flow. The control of grammar is good, and errors are infrequent and do not cause confusion for the reader. To reach a higher band, the student should aim for a wider variety of complex structures and more precise control over sentence connectors.

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

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