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)

Practical knowledge has a pivotal role in shaping the career and expertise of an individual. It is vital to provide an opportunity to the students to have an industry level exposure in their undergraduate tenure. The universities should be capable enough to open a gateway for the students by including a period of spending time abroad. The advantages of this would definitely dominate the disadvantages.

Initiating with the advantages aspect, the studying abroad period assists the university students to have an international exposure of their domain. The students are highly likely to build their connections with the foreigners which help them in their long-term career building. The students seek expanded knowledge of their undergraduate courses from highly qualified professors which eventually proves to be very fruitful and thus enhances their abilities to perceive the things in a better manner. Moreover, work placement including internships also play a vital role in building the career of a student. The students gain industrial level exposure during their undergraduate studies which ultimately assists them in their job hunt after graduating. Work placements aids students to connect with highly professional people which improves their capability to grad things more quickly. Back in 2024, I alseo had a golden opportunity for doing an internship during my undergraduate studies which shaped my practical expertise.

On the other hand, considering the disadvantages, duration of studying abroad creates a void in the studies. The students become distracted from the courses and spend most of their time in discovering new opportunities to study abroad. This creates a massive impact on their grades. Furthermore, internships and part time-jobs also have a direct influence on the studies of the students. Students spend most of their precious time in gaining the understandings of the professional environment instead of improving their grades. During my internship tenure, I also became highly distracted from my studies which ultimately dropped my grades and consequently poor performance.

In conclusion, there are advantages as well as disadvantages. But in my perspective the advantages overweigh disadvantages because those have bright future prospects for the students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses, and clearly states an opinion that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The position is maintained throughout the essay. Ideas are generally well-extended, such as discussing international exposure, networking, and career benefits alongside potential drawbacks like academic disruption and grade drops. However, some arguments rely on slight generalisations or personal anecdotes rather than fully developed academic analysis, which places the response firmly within the Band 7 descriptor. Overall, the task response is well-structured and covers all core prompt requirements effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate introduction, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as 'Initiating with the advantages aspect', 'Moreover', and 'On the other hand'. However, some cohesive phrasing feels slightly mechanical or unnatural, such as 'initiating with the advantages aspect' and 'duration of studying abroad creates a void'. Referencing is generally clear, but occasional clunky transitions prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Overall, the logical flow is easy to follow and meets the criteria for Band 6.5 to 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision, incorporating terms like 'pivotal role', 'international exposure', and 'professional environment'. There are also successful attempts at less common lexical items. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'grad things more quickly' (likely meaning 'grasp things') and minor awkward phrasing like 'doing an internship during my undergraduate studies which shaped my practical expertise'. While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect the characteristics of a Band 6.0 performance where vocabulary control lacks the consistency required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or participial structures like 'The universities should be capable enough to open a gateway...' and 'Students spend most of their precious time in gaining the understandings...'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures, such as 'duration of studying abroad creates a void' (missing article), 'Work placements aids' (subject-verb agreement error), 'alseo' (spelling slip), and 'consequently poor performance' (incomplete clause). Despite these errors, meaning is rarely obscured, and simple sentences are generally accurate, supporting a solid Band 6.0 score.

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

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