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)

Undergraduate courses in all the universities should include a duration of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

I personally think that, advantages of studying abroad for a certain period of time or doing a part-time job during undergraduate course copmletely outweigh the disadvantages, because these are very essential for the grooming of the students.

Studying abroad or doing a job during studies have many advantages, while studying in a forgein country, a student can explore different cultures as one meets other students from different backgrounds. Moreover students can gain confidence as they interact with people speaking different langauges. This also promotes the unity among the young generation.For instance,USA offers exchange semester program for the bachelors students in many Asian countries. Such exchange programs develop harmony and unity among the nations. Besides this, work placements during the degree help students alot. The understand how to manage their budget and expenses. Gain confidence as they do public dealing. Part-time jobs allow the students to polish their communication skills as well.

Although studying abroad have many benifits, but on the other hand, it become very difficult for the students to adjust in an enviornment where people belonging from different ethncity live. Students feel difficulty in communication.Food in forgein countries is not suitable for everyone.While work placements do not directly polish any skill related to your degree. Students need to manage their schedules accordingly. Moreover these placements most of the time do not pay enough to the students.

In conclusion, though students face difficulties during studying abroad and manage their hectic routines while performing part-time jobs I still believe that advantages outwiegh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position and discussing both advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad and work placements. The writer develops ideas around cultural exploration, confidence building, and financial management. For instance, the mention of the USA exchange semester program provides a relevant example to support the argument. However, some arguments remain somewhat generalised and under-developed, such as the points regarding work placements not directly polishing related skills and paying insufficiently. These ideas could be extended further to fully meet higher band criteria. Nonetheless, a clear position is maintained throughout, satisfying the requirements for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas across paragraphs. Introduction and conclusion are present, and paragraphs are generally themed appropriately around advantages and disadvantages. However, cohesion is at times faulty and mechanical. The writer relies on basic cohesive devices like 'Moreover', 'Besides this', and 'Although', and there are occasional referencing or punctuation issues, such as missing spaces after periods (e.g., 'generation.For instance,USA'). Paragraphing is utilised, but internal transitions can feel abrupt. These features align closely with the characteristics of Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'grooming', 'ethncity', and 'communication skills'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('copmletely', 'forgein', 'langauges', 'benifits', 'enviornment', 'ethncity') and awkward word choices or collocations ('public dealing'). These lexical inaccuracies occasionally draw attention and restrict the score to Band 5.5, as the vocabulary is sometimes limited or inaccurate when attempting more complex expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses (e.g., 'a student can explore different cultures as one meets other students'). However, grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes are frequent throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('studying abroad have many benifits'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing ('people belonging from different ethncity live'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur often enough to prevent the score from reaching Band 6.0.

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

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