Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-14

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)

There is a growing dicussion about including an extra curiculum such as studying in foreign country or intership in all undergraduate courses. While this trend offers some benefits, it also brings some drawbacks. I believe the advantages of this trend outweighs the disadvantages. This essay will discuss both the merit and demerit and give my opinion.

On the one hand, the most significant disadvantage of this trend is extended year of schooling and diversion of activties. Firstly, the involvement of this extra-activities will prolong academic years because universities management will have adjust the timetable will be involve additional time. Although gaining experience through work placement is beneficiary, this will delay some students espcially students will are much older. For instance, In Nigeria, students who are above thirty years of age can't be engaged in national youth service, so if these activities are added to universities curiculum some students will be deprived of this privillege. Secondly, this will affect some student especiallt those that are academically poor, when new activities are included into their initial course it may affect them because they will struggle with attention. Therefore, students with low grades have to be considered before taking this action.

On the other hand, the reason why I believe the advantage of trend is more impactful is because it will foster expertise in their field of study. This means that when internships is complusory for all undergraduate, students will be able to learn and have a practical knowlegde of their proffesional especially when the work placement id related to their field. Futhermore, students will be able to explore other field of studies and this will assist them to be able to gain employemnt from others career fields that are not related to their scope. While there are high rate of employment, acquistion of skills from other fields can allow students to practice anywhere. For example, a lady who study accounting and couldn't get job may switch to virtual assistant if she had gained a skill in that area while in school.

In conclusion, Although additional activities to undergraduate course has some drawbacks such as increase in the years that will be spent in school and divided attention among low grades students, I believe the advantage is more significant because it allow students be an expert in their course of study and it will allow them to acquire relevant skills from other fields.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both advantages and disadvantages, and a clear position is stated throughout. The writer suggests that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, focusing on practical expertise and career versatility. However, some ideas lack full development and tend to generalise. For instance, the example regarding the age limit for the Nigerian youth service is specific, but the connection to general undergraduate courses worldwide is slightly restrictive. Similarly, the development of the second advantage regarding skill acquisition could be extended further. Nevertheless, the main task requirements are met with a clear and relevant argument, placing this performance at a solid Band 6.5 or 7.0 range. We award a band 6.0 as some supporting ideas are under-developed and contain minor irrelevancies or limited depth of elaboration.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is structured logically with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing both sides, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion can be somewhat mechanical or repetitive. For example, 'the reason why I believe the advantage of trend is more impactful' is clunky. Furthermore, pronoun referencing occasionally lacks clarity, such as 'when new activities are included into their initial course it may affect them because they will struggle with attention.' Overall arrangement is coherent, earning a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common words and phrases like 'academic years', 'curiculum', 'diversion of activities', and 'practical knowledge'. However, there are numerous spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'dicussion' instead of discussion, 'curiculum' instead of curriculum, 'intership' instead of internship, 'beneficiary' instead of beneficial, 'espcially' instead of especially, 'privillege' instead of privilege, 'especiallt' instead of especially, 'complusory' instead of compulsory, 'knowlegde' instead of knowledge, 'proffesional' instead of professional, 'employemnt' instead of employment, and 'acquistion' instead of acquisition. These errors demonstrate a Band 5.5 to 6.0 level in lexical resource, though communication is rarely impeded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in grammatical structures with conditional and relative clauses (e.g., 'students who are above thirty years of age can't be engaged...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'There is a growing dicussion about including an extra curiculum such as studying in foreign country or intership', 'universities management will have adjust the timetable will be involve additional time', 'students will are much older', 'students with low grades have to be considered', and 'a lady who study accounting'. Punctuation is also occasionally faulty. Because errors are frequent and sometimes cause difficulty for the reader, a Band 5.5 is appropriate.

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