Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-31

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)

There has been an onging debate on whether studying abroad for a specific time or to have a sandwich year and working can offer more benefits or create more hurdles. While, going to a new environment and changed lifestyle can impact students mentally and financially, the network and personal growth that they can gain have a greater advantage.

Studying abroad or doing a work placement is time consuming and needs financial backing. The students can feel financially burdened because of the expenses. First of all, staying in a new country affects students emotionally. Also, they can find it hard to stay away from their families, this can affect their studies. On the other hand, not every job pays students for their work or sometimes pays a little amount of money. Moreover, working among new people can increase stress.

Nevertheless, the experience of dealing with new people and environment can make students more resilient. For example, while studying in another country, people have to do their own work, make connection with new people and navigate the language and cultural barriers. These can make students more confident about their abilities. In the future, if they have to cope up with a different culture they will be able to adapt quickly. Furthermore, having work experience would mean that they can implement their knowledge in real life situations. Also, studying abroad and having a job ensures broader network. To be successful in real life, connection is very important. This can give students leverage of getting more opportunies.

In conclusion, even though there is a short term inconvenience that students face because they need to face difficulties in the changed environment, they gain valuable experience and aquiantances. This can bring them more success than their counterparts.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear: you acknowledge emotional and financial drawbacks but argue that personal growth, practical experience and networking bring greater benefits. This addresses both sides of the question, and examples such as adapting to language and cultural barriers help explain your view. The response therefore has a relevant, supported argument. However, some points are asserted rather than fully developed. For instance, the claim that connections give students “leverage of getting more opportunities” would be stronger with a specific explanation or example of how a placement or overseas study leads to career opportunities. The disadvantages are also listed more than explored. To strengthen the response further, develop the consequences of each key point and make the comparison of advantages and disadvantages more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your position, separate paragraphs discuss disadvantages and advantages, and the conclusion restates the judgement. Linking expressions such as “On the other hand,” “Nevertheless,” and “Furthermore” help signal the direction of the argument. This gives the response a coherent progression. At times, however, connections between ideas are mechanical or unclear. In the disadvantages paragraph, “Also” and “Moreover” introduce points without showing how they relate, while “this can affect their studies” has an unclear reference after the sentence about being away from family. The advantages paragraph also moves quickly from resilience to practical experience and networking. Use clearer links between claims and explanations, and ensure pronouns refer unmistakably to the intended idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “financially burdened,” “resilient,” “cultural barriers,” and “adapt quickly.” These choices communicate the main ideas and show attempts to use less common language. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, however, such as “ongoing debate on whether,” “cope up with,” “give students leverage of getting,” and “valuable experience and acquaintances.” There are also spelling errors in “onging,” “opportunies,” and “aquiantances.” These do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and control. Aim to learn vocabulary in natural combinations—for example, “cope with a different culture” and “increase their chances of securing opportunities”—and proofread carefully for spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a concessive opening with “While” and conditional phrasing such as “if they have to cope up with a different culture.” Most sentences communicate their meaning, and the overall argument remains easy to follow. Some grammatical errors persist, particularly with sentence boundaries, clause structure and articles. For example, “While, going to a new environment…” is not correctly punctuated or structured as an opening clause, and “Also, they can find it hard to stay away from their families, this can affect their studies” joins two independent clauses with a comma. “In real life situations” also needs an article or plural adjustment. Review comma use and practise combining clauses accurately; this will help you show greater control while retaining your range of sentence forms.

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