Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Whether spending time studying abroad or having a job while graduating is beneficial for students or not has become a matter of debate. It has pros like polishing skills & hands on experience whereas, it is not far from cons like financially exhausting some students or some can drift afar from stress of managing both job & studies. I think advantages outweigh disadvantages.

On the one hand, it has compelling positives like gaining experience in communication skill will not only boost confidence in them & also give give an introduction how how and where they can improve when they will be delivering a presentation. Working with the peers will give not only theoretical knowledge but also practical experience how things actually work in real world. For instance, when you are able to explore around the globe and meet people you have better understanding and this lead to have improved skills & learning from experts. Thus, spending time overseas or having an employment while studying has booms like better skills & understanding of the world.

On the other hand, it has negatives such as it can have restrain on students who are not from financially strong background. In other words, some tutees are on scholarship or from middle class family. they cannot bear the burden of travelling abroad and also to cover all other expenses hat comes along with as accommodation, food etc. Another reason is that, for some undergraduates it is difficult to manage both studies and work and if they are overwhelmed with this there are highly like chance that either they will have anxiety and drift from studies to other illegal activities. Hence, economic stress and drift away are two banes.

In conclusion, having time spend in a different country can be beneficial for students as it will give them chance to attain required skills and also to learn from the best but we cannot ignore the fact the most of the students are not economically strong which can be burdensome for them and also mismanagement of time in studies and work can lead them away from studies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction—“I think advantages outweigh disadvantages”—and you address both benefits and drawbacks before returning to your view in the conclusion. Relevant benefits include practical experience and improved communication, while the financial burden and difficulty balancing work with study are appropriate disadvantages. This meets the task, but the ideas are not equally developed: the benefits are supported with broad claims about confidence and learning from experts, while the disadvantages receive more specific explanation about travel, accommodation and food costs. The claim that students may turn to “other illegal activities” is unclear and unsupported. To strengthen the response, explain how placements or overseas study produce lasting academic or career benefits, and support each main point with a precise example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” makes the progression easy to follow, and the main ideas generally remain grouped by topic. This is a solid foundation, with some effective links between claims and explanations. However, cohesion is occasionally mechanical, particularly through repeated “not only” constructions and frequent “&” symbols. Some references are also unclear: “this” and “they” do not always point to a precise idea or group, and the sentence about anxiety and illegal activities disrupts the argument’s flow. Use a wider range of natural transitions and make links between examples and claims more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “hands on experience,” “financially strong background,” “overwhelmed,” and “burdensome.” These choices show an effort to discuss both practical benefits and economic pressures. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes makes the intended meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “drift afar from stress,” “has booms,” “two banes,” and “drift away are two banes”; “tutees” is also not the right term for university students in this context. Repetition of general words such as “skills,” “experience,” and “students” limits precision. Aim for accurate, natural academic collocations, and check that less common expressions convey the meaning you intend.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure (“when you are able to explore…”) and a contrastive sentence beginning “whereas.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and control are frequent enough to affect clarity. For example, “will not only boost confidence in them & also give give” has faulty parallel structure and repetition, while “this lead to have improved skills” has an incorrect verb form and construction. There are also agreement and article problems, as in “there are highly like chance,” and sentence-boundary issues, such as beginning “they cannot” with a lowercase letter after a full stop. Practise building accurate clauses and checking agreement, verb forms, articles and punctuation.

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