Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15

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)

It is said that students spending some time studying in foreign lands or working as an employee should be included by all the universities in bachelors degree. This can be beneficial as students can get exposure from living in foreign and improve their skill sets while working but not getting a job or choosing to be an illegal immigrant can cause problems.

Students should study a few courses abroad so that they can get exposure of the world helping them learn discipline, punctuality, manners and ethics. For example, a person studying in Pakistan will have a different mindset from the people living in USA. If he travels to the states and live alone among US locals he will understand the value of being organized, being on time and the manners of how a person should live which he might have not in Pakistan while living with his family. Adding on, employment helps a person to understand practicalities of the work and help them learn new skills that are relatable to the teachings they have been given throughout the courses. For instance, a student joins a marketing firm and he has been given tasks for social media management. He will be exposed to different social media platforms, the back end insights and how everything works while working with experienced employees around him that will be linked to his education.

On the other end, a person going abroad for studies might get slip and never come back in the hope of settling abroad that can lead to getting arrested as per the criminal law. For example, a student from Pakistan goes to United States to complete his bachelors but never returns since he believes that living in a developed country with more opportunities is much better than going back to an underdeveloped country. Later such cases are reported on media when someone is arrested by the government officials. Adding on, fulfilling the requirement of getting employed during a degree is tough as the jobs market is saturated in many countries. Suppose a student from Karachi does not get a job during his degree due to high competition and lesser opportunities. He will be disheartened by the fact that his degree has been paused.

Every university should compulsory living overseas or working in bachelor's courses as they can improve a person's skillset and behavior that outweighs the potential flaws of this idea.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of making study abroad or work placements mandatory for undergraduates. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay and reiterated in the conclusion. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as a student from Pakistan moving to the USA or a student trying to find work in Karachi. However, there is a tendency to over-generalize in certain arguments, such as assuming that studying abroad naturally leads to immigration issues or arrest. Despite this minor limitation, the task is successfully and comprehensively addressed, aligning well with the expectations for Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Information and ideas are grouped into logical paragraphs: an introduction, a body paragraph focusing on advantages, a body paragraph focusing on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'For example', 'Adding on', and 'On the other end' are used to guide the reader through the arguments, though some transitional phrases feel slightly repetitive or mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and referencing throughout the text is generally clear, which easily supports a Band 6.5 or solid 7.0 level of coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'underdeveloped country', 'saturation', and 'practicalities'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'get slip' instead of 'slip up' or 'overstay', 'compulsory living' instead of 'making living compulsory', and 'jobs market' instead of 'job market'. Despite these inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without impeding communication, fitting comfortably into the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout the response. There are examples of successful complex structures, such as conditional clauses ('If he travels to the states and live alone...'). However, grammatical errors are frequent, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('live alone', 'help them learn'), article usage ('in United States'), and preposition selection. Furthermore, some awkward phrasings like 'a person going abroad for studies might get slip' create noticeable friction. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur regularly enough to restrict the grammar score to Band 5.5 or a capped Band 6.

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

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