Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

It is a particular concern that university curriculum should have a mandatory course abroad or a work placement to gain industrial work experience.I completely agree that its benefits will outweigh the disiadvantages because in both ways students will get exposure that they can't have in the classrooms.

Firstly, the idea of studying abroad fascinates alot of students, as they'll have extraordinary experience there. Getting knowledge from different proffessor accelerte progress of the students while working on international case studies with the group of people you just met. From undergraduate course, that specific time period will lead the whole learning process of the students. People avoid to send their kids abroad due to safety concerns, that problem will completely disappear if local university take the responsibility of the students.

On the other hand, if some students aren't willing to go abroad than they have to work in the industry as a full time job, that will consider equilent to the course that will be taught in abroad university. Students will get on hand experience while working with the local comapnies, which allows them to understand the work environment and the reality of the job market or corporate cultures. Students get to train by the old employees, to help them understand the system and to work with real clients.

In both cases, students will learn more rather to stay in classrooms. By the end of each course they will have on-hand experience and exposure which can't be given in the local university. Studying abroad and work placement might have some disadvantages but that can be cope by the benefits students will gain through that experience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you agree that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and the conclusion restates this view. You address both options in the prompt, explaining how overseas study can broaden learning and how placements provide workplace experience. These relevant points support the argument, and the safety concern gives one reason a university-organised programme may be preferable. However, the disadvantages are only briefly acknowledged in the final paragraph, rather than examined, and some benefits—such as learning from international professors—would be stronger with a specific example or fuller explanation. This covers the task well overall, but the uneven development of the two sides and supporting ideas limits the response’s completeness.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for overseas study and work placements, and a concluding summary. Sequencing words such as “Firstly” and “On the other hand” help signal the main stages of the argument. However, the contrast between the two options is not always clear: “On the other hand” suggests opposition, although the placement is presented as an alternative with similar benefits. Some links between sentences are also abrupt, and references such as “that specific time period” and “that problem” require the reader to infer exactly what they mean. Use more precise transitions and connect each example explicitly to the claim it supports to make progression smoother and cohesion less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of vocabulary for education and employment, including “international case studies,” “work environment,” “job market,” and “corporate cultures.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and there are attempts at more specific language than basic repetition. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “disiadvantages,” “proffessor,” “comapnies,” and “on hand experience.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “gain industrial work experience” and “train by the old employees.” Choose more conventional collocations and proofread spelling carefully. Greater precision in describing the benefits and possible drawbacks would also help you express ideas more flexibly and naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses with “as,” “while,” and “if,” and the overall meaning is generally understandable. Some sentences are controlled, such as “Students will get on hand experience while working with the local comapnies,” though the vocabulary needs correction. Other sentences contain grammatical problems: “university curriculum should have” needs an article or plural form, “if local university take” has an agreement error, and “that can be cope” has an incorrect passive construction. There are also punctuation and spacing issues, particularly missing spaces after full stops. Review articles, subject–verb agreement, and passive forms, then check sentence boundaries to improve accuracy while retaining your attempts at complex structures.

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