Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time that allows the students to engage in studying abroad or that provides them with work placements.

Although the inclusion of this rule may have its disadvantages, I strongly believe the involvement of this criteria will outweigh the disadvantages.

In my opinion, this allows the students to engage in various work environments and with different people. It challenges them and helps them to move out of their comfort zones.

It helps with networking and building relationships beyond classroom doors.

For example, conferences and workshops are a big part of my physiotherapy profession. I enrolled myself in an international conference which allowed me to present my ideas and thoughts to other physiotherapists in the field. It helped me gain confidence. Additionally, I ended up building a strong network with people other than i already know from my university.

At the same time doing a work placement also proves to be an essential aspect of university students. I provides a means for employment and independence. Working along with studying sharpens the concepts practically. This directly helps with securing bigger roles after university.

For example, as a physiotherapist practical knowledge and skills are an important part along with the theoretical aspects. I used to work at a clinic in order to observe and learn from my mentor and eventually using those skills to test. At the same time i also learned effective communication skills which is a huge part of my profession. I used to face challenges and difficulties but also learn from them.

These experiences shaped the person and the physiotherapist I am today.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, successfully arguing that the advantages of studying abroad or doing work placements outweigh the disadvantages. Note that 10 words copied directly from the task prompt were excluded from the official word count, but the response still met the minimum length requirement. Relevant ideas are presented, such as networking and gaining practical professional skills, drawing on the writer's background in physiotherapy. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others; while the work placement aspect is supported with specific personal examples, the initial disadvantages mentioned in the introduction are not really explored or weighed against the benefits in detail. To reach a higher level, the ideas would need more thorough extension and a more balanced exploration of both sides of the argument.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement and connects the main themes of studying abroad and work placements to personal experience. However, cohesion is at times faulty and mechanical, with some abrupt transitions between paragraphs and ideas. For instance, the transition from discussing international conferences into the separate paragraph about work placements feels disjointed, as it relies on basic sequencing phrases like "At the same time doing a work placement also proves to be...". Furthermore, paragraphing is not always used effectively; many paragraphs are extremely short and consist of single sentences or very brief points, which disrupts the logical progression of the argument. Improving paragraph structure and employing a wider, more natural range of cohesive devices would significantly enhance the flow of the writing.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items related to their profession, such as "physiotherapy," "theoretical aspects," and "effective communication skills." There are some word-choice and formatting errors, such as the lowercase "i" when referring to oneself and minor awkwardness in phrases like "people other than i already know." However, these lexical slips do not impede communication. Spelling is generally accurate throughout the response. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to incorporate a wider variety of sophisticated, less common lexical items and demonstrate more precise control over word choice and collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as conditional and subordinate clauses, as seen in "Although the inclusion of this rule may have its disadvantages, I strongly believe...". There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles, subject-verb agreement issues like "It provides a means," and awkward tense shifts in sentences such as "eventually using those skills to test." Punctuation errors also appear, such as missing commas in introductory clauses. Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the arguments easily. To achieve a higher score, the writer must demonstrate greater control over complex structures and produce a higher proportion of error-free sentences.

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

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