Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-28

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)

Gaining an experience from different workplaces not only broadens students' horizons but also give them an entirely different exposure. It is often argued that all undergraduate students should undergo through semesters exchange program, while others believe it is very costly. I completely disagree with the statement of spending a specific time studying abroad.

Firstly, studying abroad should completely be a decision of a student because not every one wants to go away from his motherland and family. Let's take a student as an example who is the only child of his diseased parents and going abroad can become problematic for his family. If someone is getting an equal opportunities in his own country, then going abroad for a specific time period would not be a fruitful journey.

Secondly, giving the opportunity to shift the workplace and semester exchange to all students would be extremely expensive. It would put a great pressure on country's economy and transportation. For instance, it would be very hard for the developing countries to sustain, if they had kept sending students and employers abroad. Their focus would be less on basic necessities including quality healthcare, advanced career opportunities and the maintenance of public transport systems.

Turning to the other side, giving scholarships and grants to study abroad to the best learners would be the best approach. Although gaining experience from the entirely different environment and well-renowned institution would be productive but taking all students abroad had have negative consequences on the economy.

All things considered, work placement and semester exchange programs should not be the compulsory part of undergraduate education. Though, taking some potential and intelligent students abroad would be a sustainable option. Overall, its advantages outweigh the advantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have addressed the prompt by taking a clear position against making study abroad or work placements compulsory. However, the conclusion contains a significant contradiction: you state 'Overall, its advantages outweigh the advantages,' which contradicts your earlier arguments and your stated position. This confusion impacts the clarity of your stance. While you provide relevant reasons regarding personal circumstances and economic constraints, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. To reach a higher band, ensure your conclusion consistently reflects your main argument and expand on your examples to provide more depth, rather than just stating them briefly.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly,' 'Secondly,' and 'Turning to the other side' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where the logical progression is slightly hampered by awkward phrasing, such as the transition into the final paragraph. The use of referencing is generally clear, but the overall cohesion could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that the relationship between ideas is more fluid and less formulaic.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'broadens students' horizons,' 'fruitful journey,' and 'sustainable option.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'undergo through semesters exchange program' (should be 'undergo a semester exchange program') and 'diseased parents' (you likely meant 'deceased'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. To improve, focus on learning the correct collocations for academic topics and proofreading for common word-choice errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement ('also give them' should be 'also gives them'), incorrect article usage, and tense errors ('had have negative consequences'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the sentence structure is often repetitive. To achieve a higher score, you need to demonstrate more control over complex structures and reduce the frequency of basic grammatical slips, ensuring that your sentences are consistently accurate.

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

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