Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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)

All the bachelor courses provided by tertiary institutions should include an obligatory period to facilitate studying overseas or voluntary placement. Although it can cost a significant amount of money and cause mental health issues being away from home, I believe that it gives students a broader sense of satisfaction because they are gathering practical knowledge for their course and enhancing their communication skills.

Studying in foreign countries or engaging in a work placement is financially unproductive during the study period. This includes accommodation and transportation costs out of pocket. After paying tuition fees, these additional costs are a burden to students. Additionally, while learners are away from family and friends, this solitary life leads to depression among the young generation. Being in an unfamiliar environment increases the vulnerability of undergraduate students due to language barriers. For instance, statistics in Australia show that international students are more prone to mental health problems compared to domestic students. However, I would argue that without course-related placement, learners would not be able to acquire practical skills and competencies in communication.

Voluntary placement should be a part of tertiary degrees, especially towards the end of the degree. Work placement gives students the opportunity to learn in an environment where they will be in the near future. These hands-on skills are necessary to make them familiar with the practical application of their academic learning. Moreover, when students find them in a new environment, the possibility of learning different languages and cultures increases as they try to survive in the new environment. This practice ultimately helps them gain communication skills. I believe these skills are more important than the cost of abroad living.

In conclusion, although it is unfortunate that studying abroad is expensive and emotionally draining, the practical skills students gain during their work placements are more beneficial.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, presenting a clear position that the advantages of studying abroad and work placements outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are generally relevant, covering financial and psychological drawbacks alongside practical skills and communication benefits as advantages. However, some ideas are a little under-developed or repetitive, particularly the discussion around communication skills in the third paragraph, which revisits points already made. To reach a higher level, every main idea requires fully extended and thoroughly supported elaboration with more specific examples rather than broad generalisations, moving past the tendency to state a point without deep exploration.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas from introduction to counter-arguments, then supporting arguments, and finally a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with each main body paragraph focusing on a distinct theme. However, cohesion can feel somewhat mechanical at times, with transitional phrases like 'Additionally' and 'Moreover' used in a formulaic manner. Referencing is occasionally slightly unclear, such as 'when students find them in a new environment', where the pronoun usage detracts from natural flow. To achieve a stronger band, the writer needs to make cohesive devices less obtrusive and ensure seamless logical transitions between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'tertiary institutions', 'financially unproductive', 'vulnerability', and 'practical application'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, for instance, writing 'bachelor courses' instead of 'bachelor's degrees' or 'undergraduate courses', and 'abroad living' instead of 'living abroad'. Spelling and word-form errors are generally absent, but precision in lexical selection prevents the vocabulary from feeling completely natural and sophisticated. To improve, the student should focus on precise collocations and more varied academic phrasing to convey precise meanings without awkwardness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response makes use of a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over relative clauses and conditional structures. There are some grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'cause mental health issues being away from home' (missing prepositional or participial links) and 'when students find them in a new environment' (reflexive pronoun misuse). Punctuation is generally sound, and errors are infrequent enough that they rarely impede communication. To move towards a wider range of error-free complex structures, the writer must carefully monitor the accuracy of dependent clauses, prepositional patterns, and pronoun references to ensure the majority of sentences remain completely polished.

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