Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-06

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 their bachelor's courses, universities should add a period for students to spend time studying in another country or working as an intern. Although this involvement has several drawbacks, I believe that its advantages are considerable greater.

One significant advantage of this extracurriculsr activity in universities courses is that it allows students to choose right path for better career after graduation. This is because they can have infoamtive insights about particular way which they will pursue whether they want to study abroad or they will have much experience about their work. For instance, most foreign universities add career counsling course in their curriculum to help student about their career in their bachelor studies and also a student who have already worked as an intern, will have experience of market trends . As a result, students become less stressed about their future after graduction.

On the other hand, making studying abroad or work placements compulsory may have significant disadvantage, namely financial pressure for students from low income families. This attributed to more expence of university because placement of all students for university and fact based information about study of another country is not easily affordable for students .For instance, a student who wants to study abroad have to pay for accommodation, travel, food, visas, and other living expenses. As a result, most of the students can't afford these expenses.

In conclusion, although additional components in university's undergraduate curriculum msy rise certain disadvantages, I believe that that its benefits are more significant, particularly in term of student career and future.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position on whether the advantages of studying abroad or doing work placements outweigh the disadvantages. Relevant ideas are presented, such as helping students choose the right career path and considering the financial pressure on low-income families. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For instance, the explanation of career counseling and market trends is somewhat unclear and under-developed, and the discussion on financial burdens lacks specific real-world illustration beyond a basic list of expenses. The position remains clear throughout the essay, satisfying the criteria for this level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear, logical progression of ideas from introduction to conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, with each body paragraph focusing on a distinct theme (advantages versus disadvantages). Cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'One significant advantage', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are employed to guide the reader through the argument. However, cohesion is occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive, and referencing within sentences, such as 'This attributed to' and 'fact based information about study of another country', lacks complete smoothness, pointing directly to this band level while touching upon elements of higher organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'extracurricular', 'curriculum', and 'market trends'. However, there are notable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form throughout the text, including 'considerable greater' instead of 'considerably greater', 'extracurriculsr' (spelling error), 'infoamtive insights', 'counsling', 'counouse' variants, and 'expence' instead of 'expense'. Additionally, 'in term of' should be plural. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score, as the range of vocabulary remains basic and requires more precision and correct spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like conditional and concessive clauses with varying degrees of success. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles ('a student who have already worked', 'for university'), subject-verb agreement issues ('student who have', 'curriculum msy rise'), and prepositional slips ('in universities courses'). Nonetheless, these errors rarely impede communication, and the majority of simple structures are controlled effectively. The punctuation is generally functional, meeting the expectations for a mix of simple and complex forms with occasional lapses.

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

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