Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16

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 universities should develop a curriculum that includes a period of time spent studying in a foreign land or doing an internship to develop practicality. Although this policy has some drawbacks, I believe it offers significant educational benefits through work experience that clearly outweigh the disadvantages.

On the one hand, when students are given opportunities for a work placement or studying abroad, it can substantially benefit with respect to their subject study. Gaining practical experience leads to understanding the subject on a deeper level. To exemplify, graduates in engineering field can understand machinery concepts clearly after they have their hands on a real working machine. Understanding concepts is not the only thing needed to excel in the field. Furthermore, when students study abroad, it allows them to develop personally and live independently. Studying at a different university and a distinct culture encourages personal growth and gives them the chance to become more responsible. Additionally, living in a different environment teaches them important life lessons to manage finance, well-being, and study all-together.

On the other hand, there may be a number of downsides for this. Firstly, studying abroad requires a good amount of money, which not all students can afford. Settling in a non-native country even for a small time period may require lakh, which is not feasible to middle-class families. Furthermore, work placements is not always allotted in large numbers, it is only limited to a few students, especially those who have a good record in academics. Due to the small availability and high demand, many students are not offered internships, because of which their practical skills do not develop.

To conclude, although placing students in a workplace or studying abroad may have some partial difficulties, students development with respect to academic, experience, and personality are far more significant.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of including study abroad or work placements in undergraduate courses. The candidate takes a clear position in the introduction that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and maintains this throughout the essay. Ideas are generally well-extended, such as the example of engineering graduates understanding machinery concepts through practical work. However, some arguments, particularly in the third paragraph regarding the financial hurdles and internship allocations, could have been elaborated further to reach a higher band level. Overall, the task is successfully fulfilled with relevant and coherent main ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into four paragraphs, featuring a clear introduction, two body paragraphs presenting opposing views, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal the transition between ideas, such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesive links within paragraphs occasionally feel somewhat mechanical or repetitive, as seen with the sequential use of 'Furthermore' and 'Additionally'. Paragraphing is appropriate overall, and the progression of ideas is generally clear, though paragraph transitions could be smoother and more sophisticated to secure a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'curriculum', 'internship', 'undergraduate', and 'personal growth'. There are occasional word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'benefit with respect to' instead of 'benefit with respect to their studies', and the use of the non-native term 'lakh' which is contextually inappropriate for an international English exam. Spelling is mostly accurate, and although some less common vocabulary is attempted with minor flaws, communication is never impeded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating conditional or concessive clauses such as 'Although this policy has some drawbacks, I believe...'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('work placements is not always allotted') and preposition misuse ('in engineering field'). While these errors are noticeable and detract from overall precision, they do not severely impede communication. A wider variety of error-free complex structures is needed to achieve a higher score.

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