Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

It is often argued that every undergraduate student be required to spend more time studying in another country or completing a work placement. While I agree that these experiences can provide valuable benefits, I do not believe that they should be compulsary for all university students.

One major advantage of studying abroad or undertaking a work placement is that students can develop practical skills that cannot always be gained in a classroom. For example, a work placement allows students to apply their theoretically knowledge in a real working environment and understand how their chosen profession operates. Similarly, studying in another country can improve communication skills, cultural awareness and freedom. These experience can make graduates more attractive towards future.

However, making it mandatary could create several problems. The first and foremost point is expensive because students may have to pay for travel, accommodation and living expenses.This could be a finanical burden on students who are from low income families. For example, students studying subjects such as mathematics, social studies and hindi, that are mainly theoretical based subject which basically requires academic study and no personal exposure is needed. Secondly, not every students requires international experiences.

To sum up, although studying abroad and work placements can greatly improve students skills. I disagree that they should be compulsary for every students. Universities should provide other opportunities such as short term internship program in which students explore and learn various new things. Students can choose the experience that is most suitable for their course and circumstances.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position throughout the essay, arguing that while study abroad and work placements offer benefits, they should not be compulsory. You present relevant ideas, successfully meeting the threshold for a solid performance while showing partial elements of higher bands through your clear stance and general development. However, some of your ideas remain under-developed or unclear. For instance, when discussing subjects like mathematics and hindi as being purely theoretical, the reasoning is somewhat abrupt and lacks deeper extension. Furthermore, your examples, such as mentioning specific subjects, are introduced rapidly without being fully fleshed out to support your overall argument about why certain students might be exempt. To reach the next level, you need to ensure that every main idea is thoroughly explored, justified with robust explanations, and supported by fully elaborated examples throughout the body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

Your essay demonstrates a clear logical organisation and overall progression throughout, which gives the text a coherent and easy-to-follow structure. You make effective use of paragraphing, grouping your introduction, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion into distinct, logical blocks. Cohesive devices are generally well managed, with appropriate transition signals such as 'While I agree', 'One major advantage', and 'However'. Referencing is mostly clear, allowing the reader to follow your line of thought from one sentence to the next. Nevertheless, some cohesive relationships feel slightly mechanical or abrupt, particularly in the transition between paragraphs and in how certain examples are linked to the main arguments. To achieve a higher band, you would need to employ more sophisticated and varied cohesive devices, ensuring that transitions between sentences and paragraphs flow completely naturally and unobtrusively without relying on formulaic connectors.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating your central arguments. You attempt less common lexical items such as 'compulsary', 'mandatary', 'finanical burden', and 'theoretical based subject', which shows a willingness to expand your lexical range. However, these attempts are occasionally marred by spelling and word-form inaccuracies, such as misspelling 'compulsory' and 'mandatory', and using 'theoretically knowledge' instead of 'theoretical knowledge'. Word-choice errors also appear, such as writing 'attractive towards future' rather than appealing to future employers, and mixing up word forms. These errors do not impede communication, as your overall meaning remains clear to the reader. To move up to a higher band, you must use a wider range of vocabulary with greater precision, demonstrate more control over word formation and collocations, and eliminate spelling mistakes entirely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You display a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures such as concessive clauses ('While I agree that...') and conditional constructions. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, including article omissions, subject-verb agreement issues ('every students requires'), and minor punctuation slips, such as the missing period or abrupt break before 'This could be a financial burden'. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and the basic meaning of your sentences remains clear. Your grammatical control is sufficient for the task, showing elements of both simple and varied sentence patterns. To reach a higher band, you would need to produce a greater frequency of error-free complex sentences, demonstrate better control over articles and plurals, and ensure precise grammatical agreement across all complex structures.

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

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