Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29

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)

In In the current phase, it is often argued that all university students should be required to spend some time studying abroad or undertaking a work placement as a part of their university education. However, it has some drawbacks , I believe that the advantages of this approach outweigh disadvantages.

On one hand, it is believed that the universities should introduce certain advantages to students because studying abroad gives students opportunities to experience their different settings and their education system. Additionally, work placement enables students to become more independent and more capable of handling real-world responsibilities. For instance, my cousin who has completed his graduation undertook work placement in Dubai. During his work he had to manage his accommodation, finances and other responsibilities. With this, he became more confident and capable of managing his real world challenges. Therefore, such opportunities are beneficial for students.

On the other hand, it has been observed that such opportunities may be advantageous for only certain groups of students, plenty others may face certain financial difficulties which stop them from fulfilling their dreams. Furthermore, when students work to different locations far away from their hometown, they often face challenges such as homesickness, depression, anxiety, and dietary issues. This lead them to suicide and doing an ordinary jobs.Thus, these financial and personal challenges may create significant difficulties to students who have to live and work away from their hometown.

In conclusion, although financial and personal challenges create certain problems, I believe that universities should provide more opportunities for students to study abroad or undertake work placements as these experiences enable students to become more independent and adaptable.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad or doing work placements, and clearly states a position in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are generally relevant, such as independence, financial difficulties, and personal challenges. However, some arguments lack deep development, particularly the rather extreme and unsubstantiated claim in the third paragraph regarding suicide resulting from homesickness. While the position is clear throughout, the extension of ideas tends to rely on generalized assertions rather than thorough exploration. This performance aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors, where the task is addressed with relevant ideas, but some points suffer from under-development or lack logical extension.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, utilizing standard introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'On one hand,' 'On the other hand,' and 'In conclusion' are used to signal the progression of ideas. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally become faulty or mechanical. For instance, the opening sentence contains a jarring duplication ('In In the current phase'), and the transition between sentences in the first paragraph is clumsy ('However, it has some drawbacks , I believe...'). Paragraphing is present and appropriate, but the logical flow between ideas within the body paragraphs occasionally feels disjointed, meriting a Band 6 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'undertaking a work placement,' 'independently,' 'adaptable,' and 'financial difficulties.' There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, though this is sometimes accompanied by awkward word choice or minor collocation errors, such as 'work to different locations' instead of 'work in different locations' and 'doing an ordinary jobs.' Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication. This level of lexical control corresponds to a Band 6, where the writer has an adequate resource for the task and attempts less common items with occasional inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some command of subordination through structures like 'although financial and personal challenges create certain problems, I believe that...' However, there are notable grammatical errors and awkward phrasing throughout. The opening sentence contains an immediate duplication error ('In In the current phase'), and there is an intrusive comma splice and missing article in 'However, it has some drawbacks , I believe that the advantages of this approach outweigh disadvantages.' Other issues include subject-verb agreement errors like 'This lead them'. Because errors occur with some frequency but rarely impede overall communication, this performance sits comfortably at Band 6.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.