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)

All university bachelor students courses should include a time period of spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. I'm neutral in this case because in some situations advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages.

One of the major disadvantages is that the studying abroad can be expensive because students have to pay for travel, accommodation and other living expenses. One reason is that the students have no such interest in part time work. In addition, most of the students feel homesick and can not adjust in different culture. However, work placement can also affect the academic studies of students. Nevertheless, these problems can be reduced with financial support, scholarships, and proper planning.

On the main advantages of studying abroad and doing work placement help them in practical experience if students can do work related to their field they can give a better opportunity to get jobs in future. On the other hand, doing work help them students to build confidence and make independent. University education mainly provided theoretical knowledge while work placement allows students to apply what they learned actually. For example: a food science can work in food industry and learned how processing, packaging, preservation and transport of food occur also most of the students can work in labs to performed different experiments.

Most of the students can manage both work and studies together and have high level of energy. Moreover living abroad can improve communications skills and teach them how to interact with peoples. They also helped students to adjust in different places and cultures.

In conclusion, studying abroad and work placement are help full for some students however, some face difficulty in them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad or undertaking a work placement during university. The student establishes a position, noting that while there are challenges such as financial costs and homesickness, the advantages generally outweigh the disadvantages. However, some ideas are underdeveloped and lack sufficient extension. For example, the mention that 'students have no such interest in part time work' is unclear and abrupt. The argument regarding practical experience is better supported, as seen in the food science example: 'a food science can work in food industry and learned how processing, packaging, preservation and transport of food occur'. While all parts of the task are addressed, the depth of explanation fluctuates, placing this response at Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical paragraph structure, beginning with an introduction, followed by disadvantages, advantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or faulty, such as the transition 'On the main advantages' instead of 'One of the main advantages'. Referencing and logical progression occasionally falter, as seen in the transition from financial issues to academic disruption without clear linking phrases. Furthermore, the conclusion is overly brief and slightly repetitive. These features align with the Band 6 descriptor where cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'accommodation', 'living expenses', 'practical experience', and 'theoretical knowledge'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'All university bachelor students courses' instead of 'All university bachelor degree courses', and 'make independent' instead of 'become independent'. Phrases like 'are help full' and 'learned how processing... occur' also show lexical and morphological inaccuracies. Despite these errors, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'if students can do work related to their field they can give a better opportunity'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and sentence construction, including 'time period of spent studying', 'can not adjust in different culture', and 'studying abroad and work placement are help full'. Punctuation errors also appear, particularly comma splices and run-on sentences in the conclusion. Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause some minor difficulty for the reader while still allowing the core message to come through, a Band 5.0 is appropriate here.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.