Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The proposal to mandate international study or work placement in the undergraduate syallabus has been increasingly advocated nowadays. While such requirements may introduce significant logistical challanges to education providers and financial burden to students, they are likely to offer meaningful exposure and enhanced employability for students. Thus, I personally believe the advantages of this proposal outweigh the disadvantages.

On the one hand, making foreign study or placement mandatory could be very daunting to the education providers as they have to do challanging collaboration with education and industry partners from abroad. For instance, in an interview, the director of British College expressed that it is more difficult finding the international industry partners than finding domestic partner. Furthermore, the proposal also puts notable financial burden to the students as moving abroad for study or work placement requires alot of expenses related to travel and accomodation . However, I believe that with proper planning and effort, these challanges can be sorted.

On the other hand, students who have been exposed to foreign environment during study or work placement has greater employability and benefit in the job market. The job providers generally think that professional with international experience have better communication skills, intercultural awareness, and understanding of world. So, they offer extra salary and better position to such candidates. For example, an engineers graduated from Kathmandu University with international exposure to academic exchange program have better position in the job market than the graduates from Pokhara University with no abroad exposure.

To conclude, while international study or work placement introduces noticable financial and logistical challanges, its benefits like better exposure and enhanced employability outweigh any of the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task directly and presents a clear position throughout. The writer acknowledges both the disadvantages, such as logistical hurdles and financial burdens, and the advantages, including enhanced employability and cross-cultural awareness, before concluding that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. Ideas are generally well-extended and supported with relevant examples, such as the mention of the director of British College and the comparison between graduates from Kathmandu University and Pokhara University. While some of the supporting points are slightly generalised, the task is covered thoroughly and a consistent point of view is maintained. The response comfortably fulfills the band 7 descriptor requirements for task response by extending and supporting ideas clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organisation. The text is divided into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs presenting opposing views, and a concise conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', 'Furthermore', and 'To conclude' are used effectively to guide the reader through the argument. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, and minor mechanical issues in cohesion slightly detract from the flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and every paragraph has a clear central topic. These characteristics align well with the band 7 descriptors, demonstrating a clear logical organisation throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision, such as 'mandate international study', 'logistical challenges', 'intercultural awareness', and 'enhanced employability'. There are attempts to use less common items with general awareness of collocation, for instance 'financial burden' and 'academic exchange program'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('syallabus' for syllabus, 'challanges' for challenges, 'accomodation' for accommodation, 'alot' for a lot, 'noticable' for noticeable) and occasional word-choice slips like 'an engineers graduated'. Despite these vocabulary and spelling inaccuracies, the range is adequate for the task and communication is not impeded, placing it securely at band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over relative clauses and subordinate structures, such as in 'While such requirements may introduce significant logistical challenges... they are likely to offer meaningful exposure'. There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors present throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('students who have been exposed... has greater employability'), article omissions ('an engineers graduated'), and pluralisation slips. Despite these errors, the complex structures attempted are mostly clear, and the errors do not impede communication. This balanced profile reflects the band 6.0 descriptors for grammatical range and accuracy.

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