Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-12

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)

Universities undergraduate programms should allow students to study in a foreign country or doing an workplacement. Altough this policy has some drwaback but I belive the advantages outweigh the drawbacks as studying abroad or work placemnet will help students to gain practical experience and it will improve their communucation skills.

Most of the university pass out students are not able to get employment in recent days due to lack of practical experience. Workplacement will definitely help them to overcome this crisis because they will be able to work on field. For example, my brother worked as a junior assistant for one year after getting a work placement which helped him to get a permanent job in saudi arabia. Hence, work placement can reduce the stress of getting a permanent job after completing study.

Studying abroad can improve communication skills and students can learn about others culture. However, there are some drawbacks as well such as it could be expensive for most students to continue their study in a foreign country. For instance, one of my relative was offered a student exchange programm for one year in turkey so he learn turkish language in order to communicate better with locals but after three months he left turkey due to high financial needs. Hence, studiyng abroad can make you learn about new things but it could have some drwabacks as well.

In conclusion, universities should give an option to students to study abroad or doing a work placement. The advantages of studying abroad will improve their communication while through job replacement undergraduate students will be able to gain experience which will help them to get better knowlegde of real world.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including a study abroad or work placement period in university courses, taking a clear overall position that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. The ideas presented, such as gaining practical experience to improve employment prospects and developing communication skills alongside cultural awareness, are relevant and extended with examples like the brother working as a junior assistant in Saudi Arabia and the relative in Turkey. However, some arguments exhibit a tendency to over-generalize, such as stating that 'most of the university pass out students are not able to get employment in recent days,' and the development of certain points could be more rigorously supported. Nevertheless, the requirements of the prompt are fully met with a discernible progression of ideas, aligning well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors. A band score of 6.0 is awarded as ideas are relevant and supported, though some minor under-development and generalization keep it at this level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing that separates the introduction, body paragraphs focusing on work placements and studying abroad respectively, and the conclusion. Ideas are logically sequenced, moving naturally from employment benefits to cultural and financial considerations. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The student relies heavily on basic cohesive devices like 'Hence' and 'For example,' and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'he learn turkish language' where pronoun antecedents could be smoother. Furthermore, paragraph transitions and internal sentence connections lack the flexibility seen at higher bands. Overall, the organizational structure is apparent and guides the reader through the text effectively, satisfying the Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'work placement,' 'practical experience,' and 'financial needs.' However, there are notable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'programms' instead of 'programs,' 'Altough' for 'Although,' 'drwaback' and 'drwabacks' for 'drawback,' 'communucation' for 'communication,' 'pass out students' instead of graduates, 'on field' instead of 'in the field,' and 'studiyng' for 'studying.' While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur with enough frequency to restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5, showing elements of both Band 5 and Band 6 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response incorporates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as in 'which helped him to get a permanent job in saudi arabia' and 'after completing study.' However, there are persistent grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, including missing articles ('a work placement', 'in foreign country'), incorrect prepositions ('doing an workplacement'), subject-verb agreement slips ('he learn turkish language'), and run-on structures. Although these errors rarely impede the overall meaning of the text, their frequency prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. The structural range and control correspond closely to the Band 5.5 descriptors, balancing some complex structures with frequent grammatical inaccuracies.

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

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