Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-18

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)

Nowadays, many people believe that almost all university undergraduate courses should have a part of its time to study or to do a work placement in other countries. Although some people would probably argue such experiment may has many drawbacks, I believe that the advantages of it outweigh the downsides.

Some people would think, student may find it hard to fit in a new environment, specially in an educational one. At first, students would probably struggle with the language, particularly in south-eastern Asia, in China for instance. Also a new culture may be challenging to deal with, especially customs and habits. For instance, shaking hands and hugging could be a normal way for greeting people where you come from, but in many islamic countries, especially in the Middle East, these kinds of customs might be a problem, specifically when dealing with the other gender. However, these drawbacks do exist, but they do not make a serious impaction and does'nt necessarily mean undergraduate students should not have the oppurtunity to spend a period of time studying or doing a work placement abroad.

On the other hand, I think it is a wonderfull idea to spend a period of your time as an undergraduate student abroad. This gives you the chance to discover new cultures, languages, new methods for education and get to meet students from different nationalities.

In conclusion, I think university undergraduade students should have a chance to study or to do a work placement abroad during some period of their time. Although this may has a possible drawbacks, but I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you believe the benefits of overseas study or placements outweigh the drawbacks, and you address both sides of the question. The discussion of language and cultural adjustment is relevant, with examples such as difficulty communicating in China and differences in greetings. However, the advantages are less fully developed: you list cultural discovery, language learning, educational methods and meeting international students, but do not explain in detail how these experiences benefit students’ studies or future careers. The conclusion repeats your view rather than drawing together the main reasons. Develop one or two benefits with specific explanations or examples, and make the comparison between benefits and drawbacks more explicit to strengthen your response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, a paragraph presents drawbacks, another gives advantages, and a conclusion restates your position. Linking phrases such as “Although,” “On the other hand” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument, and the ideas generally progress logically. This meets the lower-band expectations securely and shows some features of stronger organisation. However, the advantages paragraph is brief and reads mainly as a list, so the progression of reasoning is less developed there. The sentence beginning “However, these drawbacks do exist” also repeats the contrast already introduced and is awkwardly connected to the preceding examples. Build clearer links between each claim and its explanation, and use referencing and transitions less mechanically.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “work placement,” “new environment,” “customs and habits,” and “different nationalities.” There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “educational” and “particularly.” However, inaccurate word choice, collocation and spelling are noticeable and sometimes make the writing less natural: “such experiment,” “serious impaction,” and “wonderfull idea” are examples. “A part of its time” is also an unclear way to describe a course requirement. These issues fit a limited but functional range: the reader can understand the argument, but expression is not consistently precise. Learn common academic collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession in “Although some people would probably argue…” and a longer example introduced by “For instance.” Most of the argument remains understandable, but some errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction reduce accuracy. For example, “may has” should be “may have,” “these drawbacks … does not” needs plural agreement, and “Although this may has …, but” combines structures incorrectly. The sentence beginning “Some people would think, student may…” also needs a clearer clause structure. Practise modal verbs, subject–verb agreement and the use of although without “but”; then proofread longer sentences to ensure their parts fit together.

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

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