Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-20

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 univerisities should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement like an internship in their undergraduate courses. Although this approach may present a financial burden, i believe its advantages really do outweigh its disadvantages.

The first advantage is that both experiences help students develop abilities that are hard to aquire in a lecture hall. For instance, doing a work placement can help sudents apply their theoretical knowledge in real projects, collaborate with real professionals, understand how to thrive in real work environments and therefore gain real world pratical experiences. For example, an AI engineering student will gain theoretical knowledge on how to train AI models from the studied lectures. But being in a work placement will give him the chance to to actually train them and understand what is actually necessary like preparing the right data so the model doesn't become biased and also understand teamwork better that university assignments won't help understand.

Similarly, studying abroad can enhance students' communication skills, cultural awareness and independence which will help them later when working abroad in their professional careers.

However, these options being mendatory can have their drawbacks. For instance, thay can be extremely expensive which can cause universities' budget overruns when money can be scarce in some universities or even regions. Furthermore, some students may have disabilities or they may need to take care of a relative that needs them most of the time that won't allow them to study aborad or work in a far work placement. Additionally, it is possible that some universities aborad or some work placements might not amount to something great which will add little to nothing in the students' experiences.

Nevertheless, i believe universities can fix these problems by for example not paying for everything but providing financial assistance to students who aren't financially burdened. For instance, they can accomodate to students with special circumstances by providing them with alternatives like a near work placement instead of a far one or a great work placement instead of sudying abroad.

In conclusion, although these options may require organization, a big budget and even more challenges, they are still worthy because they help the students' growth immensely

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your response addresses both sides of the question and maintains a clear position: you acknowledge financial and personal difficulties, then argue that the benefits outweigh them. The work-placement example involving an AI engineering student gives relevant support, and you suggest practical ways universities could reduce barriers. This fits the descriptor because the main ideas are extended and supported. Some points, however, are less fully developed: the benefits of studying abroad are listed—communication, cultural awareness and independence—but not illustrated with a specific example, while the concern that placements may offer little value is mentioned briefly. Develop these points further and explain more explicitly how the proposed alternatives preserve the benefits. The response meets the stated length requirement; 14 words copied from the prompt were excluded from the count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: an introduction states your view, two paragraphs explain benefits and drawbacks, a further paragraph proposes solutions, and the conclusion restates your position. Linking expressions such as “For instance,” “Similarly,” “However,” and “Nevertheless” help readers follow the argument, and the paragraphing is appropriate. To make the progression more consistently smooth, connect the solutions more directly to the specific disadvantages they address. For example, the paragraph about alternatives could distinguish financial support from accommodations for students with caring responsibilities. Some transitions are also formulaic, and the long AI example contains several ideas joined together, making the relationship between them less easy to follow. Use clearer sentence boundaries and occasional referencing to avoid repeating “students” and “work placement.”

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “theoretical knowledge,” “cultural awareness,” “financial assistance,” and “special circumstances.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and you attempt more specific language when discussing AI training and workplace experience. However, several spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural combinations limit the accuracy of your vocabulary, such as “aquire,” “pratical experiences,” “budget overruns,” and “a far work placement.” Repetition of “real” in the work-placement example also reduces variety. Aim for more precise collocations and check spelling carefully; for instance, describe practical experience as “hands-on experience” and refer to “a placement far from home.” These refinements would make your vocabulary more natural and flexible.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including a concession in the introduction (“Although this approach may present a financial burden”) and a relative clause describing a student who needs care. Most of the argument remains understandable, but some grammatical errors occur in longer sentences. In the AI example, “will give him the chance to to actually train them” repeats the infinitive marker, and the clause ending “that university assignments won't help understand” is incomplete or unclear. The sentence beginning “some students may have disabilities” also becomes difficult to follow because several clauses are joined without clear structure. Review sentence boundaries, clause construction, and punctuation, and proofread for small errors such as the lowercase “i.” More controlled complex sentences would improve accuracy without sacrificing range.

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