Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-23

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)

Studying or completing a work placement abroad for a period of time should be a part of all undergraduate courses. I believe the advantages of these experiences outweighs the disadvantages.

This experience can raise cultural awareness among students and bring peace in the world. When students visit other countries they learn about people through their cultures. Students learn and adapt to live with diverse group of people. They understand that every culture has its own importance and beauty. This understanding helps them to co-exist with people who have different ethnicity, culture or religion making world a more peaceful place. For instance, people had pre concieved notions about Pakistan. They thought Pakistanis are aggressive people, but as more and more Pakistani students went abroad to study people learned about the Pakistani culture from them, which changed their opinion about Pakistan and Pakistanis.

However, if the study or work placement abroad is made a compulsion instead of a choice it might have some disadvantages. Leaving one's country and going to a new country to work or study is not easy for everyone. Every student might not be able to adapt to the changes and every student might not have a positive experince. Some students might not get used to the weather or the way people treat you as every culture might not be welcoming. Being alone in a new country might create psychological problems for some students and they might develop a resistance towards travelling. For instance, a lot of international students feel home sick and alone in the initial months.

From the above discussion we can conclude that the advantages of studying or working abroad for a time period as part of the undergraduate courses outweighs the disadvantages. The cultural exposure such programs bring can have positive impact on the society as a whole as it helps people learn how to co-exist peacefully and accept diverse cultures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you believe the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. You address both sides with relevant points, especially cultural understanding and the difficulty some students may face when adapting abroad. The Pakistan example also helps illustrate how direct contact can challenge stereotypes. This meets the task well, but the support is uneven: the benefits are linked to wider social peace, while the disadvantages are described mainly as possible homesickness and adjustment problems, with less explanation of their consequences or how they might be addressed. The claim that placements can “bring peace in the world” is also broad. Develop the comparison more explicitly—for example, explain why the long-term benefits outweigh the personal and practical costs—to make the argument more fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall progression: an introduction states your view, the body paragraphs consider benefits and disadvantages, and the conclusion restates your position. Paragraphing is appropriate, and signposts such as “However” and “For instance” help readers follow the argument. The examples are generally placed beside the points they support. Some connections are less smooth or precise, however. The first paragraph moves from cultural awareness to world peace quite quickly, and the final sentence repeats the idea of peaceful coexistence rather than adding a distinct concluding insight. There is also some repetition of “students” and “culture.” Use clearer links to show how each example proves the point, and vary references—for instance, “these exchanges” or “such experiences”—to make cohesion more flexible.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “cultural awareness,” “diverse,” “co-exist,” “ethnicity,” and “psychological problems.” These choices communicate the main ideas, and some topic-specific language helps the response sound appropriate for an academic discussion. However, several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “adapt to live with diverse group of people,” “a positive experince,” and “a time period.” There are also spelling errors in “pre concieved” and “home sick,” which reduce accuracy. Some wording is repeated, particularly “students” and “culture.” Aim for more precise collocations and check spelling carefully; a wider, more consistently natural choice of vocabulary would make the argument clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures such as “if … is made a compulsion … it might have some disadvantages” and subordinate clauses beginning with “When” and “as.” Most sentences remain understandable, and errors do not prevent the reader from following your argument. Some grammatical inaccuracies persist, however. In the opening, “the advantages … outweighs” has a subject–verb agreement error; the plural subject requires “outweigh.” In “adapt to live with diverse group,” the article is missing, and “making world a more peaceful place” also needs an article. The sentence “Some students might not get used to the weather or the way people treat you” shifts from third-person “students” to “you.” Review agreement, articles, and consistent pronoun reference, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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