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?
Same question Compare all 3 answers See different approaches and band scores for this IELTS task.Sample Response
It is sometimes argued that every undergraduate should spend some time overseas or complete a work placement as part of their degree. Although this policy could create practical difficulties for some students, I believe that its benefits would be greater overall.
The main advantage is that students can develop skills which are hard to gain in a classroom. A placement, for example, allows a business student to see how meetings, deadlines and customer complaints are handled in a real company. They may also learn to communicate with colleagues of different ages and responsibilities. Similarly, studying abroad can make young people more independent because they need to organise accommodation, money and daily life in an unfamiliar environment. These experiences could make graduates more confident when they apply for jobs.
Another benefit is that universities would become more closely connected to the wider world. Employers could offer useful advice about course content, while students returning from another country could share new ideas with their classmates. In particular, courses such as languages, tourism and engineering may be improved when learners understand how their subject is used outside their own university.
However, making such periods compulsory may be unfair in some cases. Students from low-income families may not be able to afford travel or accommodation abroad, even if some financial support is available. Others may have caring duties or health problems which prevent them from leaving home for several months. Work placements are also not always valuable; a poorly organised placement may give students routine tasks rather than meaningful training. Universities would therefore need to provide grants and approve placements carefully.
In conclusion, overseas study and workplace experience offer important personal and professional advantages. Despite the cost and access problems, these disadvantages can be reduced through flexible arrangements, so the policy would be beneficial for most undergraduate courses.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use concise plural Original: every undergraduate Suggested revision: all undergraduates Why it matters: The plural form expresses the general group more concisely.
- 2. Specify the activity Original: spend some time overseas Suggested revision: undertake a period of study abroad Why it matters: This wording identifies the academic activity more precisely than the vague phrase spend some time.
- 3. Improve collocation Original: hard to gain Suggested revision: difficult to develop Why it matters: Skills are more naturally described as being developed.
- 4. Clarify responsibility levels Original: different ages and responsibilities Suggested revision: different ages and levels of responsibility Why it matters: Levels of responsibility is clearer than suggesting that responsibilities themselves define colleagues.
- 5. Use concise term Original: course content Suggested revision: curricula Why it matters: Curricula provides a concise academic term for the content of multiple courses.
- 6. Use precise verb Original: their subject is used Suggested revision: their subject is applied Why it matters: Applied is more precise for describing practical use of academic knowledge.
- 7. Replace vague reference Original: making such periods compulsory Suggested revision: making overseas study or work placements compulsory Why it matters: Repeating the two options removes any ambiguity in such periods.
- 8. Use precise verb Original: approve placements carefully Suggested revision: vet placements carefully Why it matters: Vet more precisely conveys checking placement quality before approval.
- 9. Sharpen problem terms Original: cost and access problems Suggested revision: costs and access barriers Why it matters: This phrase distinguishes financial costs from obstacles to participation.
- 10. Sentence rewrite Original: A placement, for example, allows a business student to see how meetings, deadlines and customer complaints are handled in a real company. Suggested revision: A placement, for example, allows a business student to see how meetings are conducted, deadlines are met and customer complaints are handled in a real company. Why it matters: Using a suitable verb for each noun creates clearer grammatical and semantic parallelism.
- 11. Sentence rewrite Original: Similarly, studying abroad can make young people more independent because they need to organise accommodation, money and daily life in an unfamiliar environment. Suggested revision: Similarly, studying abroad can make young people more independent because they need to arrange accommodation, manage money and organise daily life in an unfamiliar environment. Why it matters: Separate verbs create natural collocations for the three responsibilities.
Suggested Rewrites
- every undergraduate all undergraduates
- spend some time overseas undertake a period of study abroad
- hard to gain difficult to develop
- different ages and responsibilities different ages and levels of responsibility
- course content curricula
- their subject is used their subject is applied
Why this response received Band 8.0
The essay's strongest feature is its well-developed, relevant comparison of practical benefits and access-related drawbacks, supported by specific examples and a consistently logical structure. The main limitation is that the conclusion endorses the policy for most courses, which slightly weakens the response to the universal wording in the question. Clarify whether exceptions change the overall judgement and maintain that exact position throughout.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
The essay addresses both sides in depth and presents a clear overall preference, but its final qualification creates slight uncertainty about applying the policy to all courses and students.
State explicitly whether the proposed flexible exceptions are compatible with a universal requirement, and keep that position unchanged in the conclusion.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through distinct advantage and disadvantage paragraphs, with cohesive devices used naturally and unobtrusively.
Strengthen the link between the mitigation measures and the final judgement so the conclusion follows even more directly from the preceding paragraph.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise vocabulary conveys academic, financial and workplace ideas naturally, with strong collocational control.
Sharpen a few broad phrases such as connected to the wider world by replacing them with more exact descriptions of the institutional benefit.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of complex structures is used accurately, and sentences remain clear and well controlled throughout.
Preserve the high level of accuracy while varying the openings of longer sentences to make the syntactic range even more conspicuous.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Writing Task 2
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?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.