Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-05

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 the most concerned issue that during undergrad years, students must experience foreign educational culture or professional work. However, it is more beneficial for leaners and i believe that the advantages would outweigh the disadvantages. I will give reasons about my perspective in this essay.

One of the biggest advantage of studying abroad is that it could give learners an exposure to international education culture and advance knowledge which help them in their studies, life and professional work as they will learn from foreign lecturers. For example, if a students from Pakistan move to America or Canada for semester exchange program, he will gain advances technical skills during the semester. These advanced qualities in students will benefit nation as well as home country for its development. Moreover, by gaining work experience during studies can lead to improvement in technical skills because when students cannot apply their skills practically they will not gain experience with real world data. In addition professional skills also developed in the students such as work ethics, discipline, honesty and team management.

Despite of advantages, there are disadvantages of this point as well. one disadvantage is that it can cause financial burden on student family as they have to bear expenses of foreign education. For example, travel expense, tuition fee, living cost and health insurance. Most of the families can't afford these expenses. Another disadvantage, which a country will face is that some students deny to came back to home country when they had been employed for full time, this can lead to nation's loss as one of the best student who had good technical skills or professional expertise may work against them.

In conclusion, my strongest believe is that undergraduate course outline upgradation with professional work and foreign studies exposure has more advantages, that can benefit both nation and individual. However, it have some demerits too but it can not outweigh the merits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you believe the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, and the conclusion restates this view. You address both sides with relevant points, including international learning and practical skills as benefits, and family costs and the loss of skilled graduates as drawbacks. The examples of a student studying in North America and the expenses involved help make the discussion concrete. However, some ideas are asserted more than explained: for instance, the claim that graduates may work “against” their home country needs clarification, and the benefits of overseas study could be distinguished more clearly from those of a work placement. This covers the task well overall, but fuller explanation and more precise support would make the argument more convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. The progression from educational benefits to work experience, then to costs and graduate retention, is generally easy to follow. Linking phrases such as “For example,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” help signal relationships between ideas. At times, however, the connections feel mechanical, and some references are unclear. For example, “this can lead to nation's loss” does not specify exactly what is lost, while “these advanced qualities” refers imprecisely to the skills mentioned earlier. Improve cohesion by using clearer references and linking each example directly to the point it supports, rather than relying mainly on standard transition phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “semester exchange program,” “technical skills,” “financial burden,” and “professional expertise.” These choices show an attempt to discuss education, employment, and national effects with some range. However, noticeable word-choice, collocation, and word-form errors reduce precision: “the most concerned issue,” “advance knowledge,” “nation's loss,” and “course outline upgradation” are not natural expressions in this context. There are also spelling and form slips such as “leaners” and “believe” where a noun is needed. Aim for accurate, natural combinations and check word forms carefully. More precise phrasing would help your ideas sound clearer and more academic without requiring unnecessarily complex vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including conditional and relative clauses, as in “when students cannot apply their skills practically they will not gain experience” and “which a country will face.” This gives the response some structural variety, and the main meaning is generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with agreement, articles, plurals, and verb forms: “One of the biggest advantage” should use a plural noun, “if a students” has incorrect number, and “it have some demerits” has subject–verb disagreement. Sentence boundaries and punctuation also need attention, such as the missing comma after “In addition” and the lowercase start of “one disadvantage.” Review these patterns and proofread each sentence for agreement and punctuation.

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