Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-09

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)

Whether all university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spend studing abroad or doing a work placement is a topic of great debate over the years. In this regards, this essay will not only outline the benefits of this prespective but also also respective drawbacks, along with my personal opinion that aligns with the former point of view, in favour of studing abroad.

To commence with, spending a portion of a degree studying abroad will expose students to brand new opportunities and experiences, that they may not witness in their home country. The prime benefit is that, students get to experience new and unique cultures and traditions, improving their sense of the world. To explain it, Pupils completing part of their degree in a foreign country can make new international friends, and debate with native students on their respective views. For example, a person that completed 4 semesters in a national university, can complete rest of their degree abroad to gain additional knowledge, learn new languages and expand their social circle. Secondly, taking up a work placement abroad, can be a substantial economic gain, in contrast, to working in their home country. To elaborate it, an individual has exceptionally more variety and freedom of work abroad, along with higher salary ceilings, when working abroad after completion of their course. As a result, many students prefer working in multi-national corporations and foreign nations, to provide a better future for their families.

However, studying and working abroad also has minor drawbacks for both students and their home nation. The first and foremost is that, it causes brain drain within the nation, as aspiring minds travel abroad to finish their education. To write more, brain drain refers to the immigration of skilled people and students to a first world nation, thus, leading to a loss of skilled workers in the state from which they emigrated. For an epitome, as people take up placements abroad, this negatively impacts the native country's economy and overall gross domestic product, as there are few professionals left. Apart from this, it can be difficult to adjust to a brand new environment with complete strangers. to clarify it, overcoming the language and culture barrier can be intimidating for many students. Nonetheless, i personally think that the advantages of studying and working abroad, outweight the disadvantages by a major margin, as students get emotionally mature and responsible, while living in a new country by themselves, and also it is a matter of personal choice and preference on, whether to pursue their career abroad or at home.

In conclusion, the advantages of studying and working abroad greatly outweight the disadvantages, although, the disadvantages should not be ignored.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both sides of the question and state a clear preference for the benefits, especially in the introduction and conclusion. Relevant points include cultural exposure, international friendships, employment opportunities, brain drain and the challenge of adapting to a new environment. The examples help explain these ideas, but some claims are not fully developed or are too broad: for instance, the assertion that work abroad offers higher salary ceilings does not explain why this applies to placements required of all undergraduates. The discussion also shifts between studying abroad and working abroad without consistently evaluating the proposed requirement for every course. Develop the comparison more directly by weighing these benefits against costs such as unequal access or disruption to study.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion that restates your position. Sequencing phrases such as “To commence with,” “Secondly,” and “However” make the direction of the argument easy to follow. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical because many sentences begin with formulaic signposts, including “To explain it,” “To elaborate it,” and “To write more.” Some links also do not express the relationship accurately; “in contrast” does not clearly connect the claim about economic gain to the comparison that follows. Referencing can be unclear, as in “the former point of view.” Use fewer stock transitions and connect each example directly to the claim it supports.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “international friends,” “brain drain,” “skilled workers,” and “culture barrier.” These choices allow you to discuss both personal and national effects, and some less common expressions show an attempt to be precise. However, several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “for an epitome,” “To write more,” and “higher salary ceilings.” There are also spelling errors, including “studing,” “prespective,” and “outweight,” which reduce accuracy even though the meaning is generally recoverable. Aim for natural academic phrasing rather than inserting formal-sounding expressions, and proofread spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “as,” “while,” and “although,” and the main argument remains understandable. Some sentences are controlled, such as the explanation that brain drain involves skilled people moving abroad. However, some grammatical and punctuation errors persist. For example, “a topic of great debate over the years” lacks a natural tense construction, and “a person that completed 4 semesters … can complete rest” has inconsistent verb forms and a missing article. Commas also interrupt sentence structure in phrases such as “The prime benefit is that, students…” and “Nonetheless, i personally think…”. Review articles, tense consistency, capitalization, and comma placement, especially in longer sentences.

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