Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-05

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)

It is argued that the vast majority of university undergraduate courses should provide some extra time to students for getting education in abroad or doing a work. The major drawbacks are students may involve in bad activities when they live alone in another country, and sometimes they cannot handle the obstacles of life alone so they face various mental issues. However, its advantages are more, by living alone in different nation, students get a lot of confidence and they become more sensible.

The major merits of studying abroad or work placement outweigh disadvantages because people acquire much knowledge about culture, ethics and customs of different nations. This is because they become more confident, students have to meet with different unknown people during their studies time period so, they learn communication skills and confidence. As a result, children also become more sensible, they develop learning and cognitive skills. For instance, many university send their good students to other countries like united states or Canada on scholarship every year. Therefore, the advantages of working or study other countries are more as compared to demerits.

There are also some downsides of this approach. The major one is when students are not with their elders or parents, they may adopt bad activities . This is because they waste their time and forget their purpose .In addition, sometimes it becomes demanding for people to manage their life alone. when they face different issues in offices and universities, they need emotional support that time. As a result, they go through from health problems. For example, many students and works who live in abroad, they face depression and anxiety because of loneliness.

In conclusion, all universities should include some time for work and study abroad because it is beneficial for confidence of people and it outweigh its demerits but sometime loneliness can be a big disadvantage for it.

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 communication skills and cultural awareness versus the risks of loneliness and mental health issues. However, the development of these points is somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For instance, the argument regarding 'bad activities' is mentioned twice without specific examples or a deeper analysis of why this occurs. While the position is consistent, the supporting arguments could be more nuanced to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the stance, though it introduces a slight contradiction by mentioning loneliness as a 'big disadvantage' after arguing for the benefits.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'However', 'As a result', and 'In addition', which help guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel mechanical or slightly repetitive, particularly the overuse of 'This is because' to introduce explanations. Referencing is generally clear, though some sentences are slightly disjointed, such as the transition between the benefits of communication skills and the example of scholarships. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow, even if the internal structure of the paragraphs could be more sophisticated.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'cognitive skills', 'work placement', and 'emotional support'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'getting education in abroad' (should be 'studying abroad'), 'meet with different unknown people' (should be 'meet new people'), and 'many students and works' (should be 'many students and workers'). These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the range and precision of the language, preventing a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the student attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('in abroad'), prepositions, and verb forms ('many university send', 'they go through from health problems'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are issues with spacing before commas and periods. Despite these errors, the meaning is consistently clear, and the errors do not cause significant difficulty for the reader. To improve, the student should focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct usage of articles and prepositions.

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