Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22

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 6.5)

It is widely believed that all the educational institutions should enable access to undergraduate students to study in foreign nations alongside with their vocational trainings for a particular period of time during their studies. I strongly believe that the advantages of studying abroad and engaging in vocational courses outweigh the disadvantages of cost effectiveness and brain drain.

One of the most significant advantages of doing study and work placements is that the students are prepared for the workplaces and gain financial independence. This is particularly because in this digital age, employers prioritise to employ youngsters those have practical skills along with their academics. Therefore, people do not require any training and immediately ready to perform tasks after joining the companies. Moreover, students gain independence to further follow their passions or interests without worrying about the monetary constraints. For instance, in Germany, which is famous for their vocational courses because they provide practical skills along the theory subjects, demonstrates students gain knowledge required for their future career advancements.

However, studying abroad or doing their workplacements in foreign nations have several diasdvantages which involves expensive costs and the brain drain. This is particularly because studying abroad involves numerous expenses such as visa, airfares and exorbitant fee structures for their courses. Furthermore, it causes brain drain in their host countries which has a substantial impact on the economic growth of the nation. For instance, in Philippines, various nurses after finishing their nursing courses emigrate to other nations hence the problem of shortage of workers arise in their own nation. This clearly highlights, countries losing the talent in their nation and faces the shortage of skilled professionals.

In conclusion, while studying abroad involves significant costs and the brain drain in host countries, students gain employment opportunities and the financial security which clearly outweighs the disadavantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad or undertaking work placements during undergraduate degrees. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay, beginning with the thesis statement in the introduction and concluding with a summary. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as the reference to Germany's vocational education model and the discussion of brain drain in the Philippines. However, there is a slight over-generalisation regarding the direct transition to workplaces without any required training. The response fully satisfies the task requirements with well-developed ideas, earning a Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, moving smoothly from the introduction to the advantages, the disadvantages, and finally the conclusion. Cohesive devices are used adequately to guide the reader, such as 'One of the most significant advantages', 'Moreover', 'However', and 'In conclusion'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct aspects of the prompt. While referencing and linking words are generally managed well, occasional slightly mechanical transitions prevent the response from reaching the highest bands. Overall, the structure is clear and easy to follow, justifying a Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, demonstrating some flexibility and precision with terms such as 'vocational trainings', 'monetary constraints', 'exorbitant fee structures', and 'skilled professionals'. Less common lexical items are attempted with some awareness of style and collocation. However, there are noticeable word-choice and prepositional errors that slightly affect accuracy, such as 'employ youngsters those have' instead of 'employ youngsters who have', and 'doing study and work placements' instead of 'undertaking study and work placements'. Despite these occasional inaccuracies, the vocabulary is adequate to convey the message clearly, fitting the Band 6.5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses and conditional structures. There is a good variety of complex structures attempted, such as 'This is particularly because in this digital age, employers prioritise to prioritise youngsters...' and 'while studying abroad involves significant costs...'. However, grammatical errors are fairly frequent, including incorrect verb patterns ('prioritise to employ' instead of 'prioritise employing'), subject-verb agreement issues ('countries losing... and faces'), and awkward phrasings ('disadvantages which involves'). These errors do not impede overall communication, but their frequency prevents the essay from achieving a higher band. This performance aligns well with a Band 6.0.

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