University undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

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Read the sample essay on the topic: All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. Learn how to write a high-scoring IELTS essay using correct guidelines and structure.

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All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

Does this situation have more advantages or more disadvantages?

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Band Score: 5.5 Bands

People believe that a period spent studying abroad or doing a work placement should be included in all university undergraduate courses. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, in fact, studying abroad can influence positively the student’s behavior and it is important because all students have the opportunity to meet new people. However, studying abroad can be a dramatical problem if students are not able to stay alone or without their family.

Firstly, all the universities should include a semester for studying abroad, it is extremely important because students can engage with different cultures, foods and people. Having said that, all of these changes can develop a different student mindset which can help them to overcome all of their difficulties. In addition, it is widely known that the first three months are the most difficult because students used to have a different attention, after that they behave differently. Furthermore, studying abroad can lead students to meet new people who can be different than their friends in their own country. For instance, I have been to Wolfsburg for an Erasmus, after my period spent there, I felt extremely different, for me, traveling around the world was no longer an issue. Although I have deleted some different fears, the most important part of my Erasmus was the people who met there, fortunately I formed genuine connections.

Secondly, it can be understandable that students, in their period of Erasmus, do not always have an easy life, in fact, they must be very strong if they want to keep going on their experience. For example, I had to take care of my host brother because he was always in struggled with personal difficulties.

In conclusion, all university undergraduate courses ought to add some different activities such as studying abroad or doing a work placement because it can help student to achieve a different mindset and meet new people.

Written by an IELTS Student

Band Score Analysis:

• Paraphrasing needs improvement, as the student has used some of the words from the question statement without paraphrasing them [period spent studying abroad or doing a work placement]
• There are different punctuation mistakes, mainly with the use of commas and articles (a, an, the)
• Task Response Issue: The student is mentioning that studying abroad helps to learn about other cultures and changes the mindset and overcomes difficulties, but how and in what way does the mindset change, and how can we overcome difficulties? A relationship must be developed/explained by adding an example if needed. Secondly, one part of the question, ‘working placement abroad ‘, is not addressed in the essay.
• There are some word choice issues [deleted* some fears] [drammatical* problem]
• In the second body paragraph, in which the student had to explain the disadvantage, the topic sentence is wrong, and so is the next explanation.
• The student has used linking words, but his grammar mistakes and task response issues are decreasing the score.

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Band Score: 5.5 Bands

Universities should include internships and international opportunities like student exchange programs in undergraduate programs. From my perspective, the advantages would outweigh the disadvantages because it provides career opportunities and global experience. However, these internships can cause financial burden for the students.

Universities should include internships in every undergraduate program because it allows the students to explore the workplace environment. Therefore, these internships make easy pathways for students to secure jobs in different organizations. For instance, pharmacy students who is actively involved in different internships such as hospitals, retail, and industries will have a clear understanding of the field which interest them most and create better opportunities to secure employment. However, global opportunities such as student exchange programs play an essential role. Students can explore different cultures and the method of teaching across borders. By gaining valuable knowledge and experience from abroad, students can easily implement the experience in their professional life. In addition, these global opportunities facilitate the students in networking with different people from all over the world. Students can mention these experiences for a stronger CV that will be beneficial for their career.

Substantial increase in internships and global opportunities has become common from recent few years. Although internships and global experiences add beneficial experience, it also creates financial burden among students. It is mainly because sometimes students get unpaid internships far away from their houses and rise in fuel prices also increase the cost of travelling. Similarly, they also need money to buy meals during their internship. Therefore, these reasons can cause considerable financial burden for the students and families as well.

To conclude, universities should introduce proper internships and overseas opportunities. In my opinion, the benefits of internships and studying abroad are considerably more. However, internships could become a financial burden for students from affluent backgrounds.

Written by an IELTS student

Band Score Analysis:

• The student has mentioned multiple ideas [method of teaching, cultures, gaining valuable knowledge, networking, stronger CV], but there is no proper explanation for any one of them.
• The topic sentence of the second body paragraph is not related to the main question statement or the disadvantage explained in this specific paragraph.
• There are punctuation mistakes [missing commas and articles]
• The student has given a clear position in the introduction.
• There are some subject-verb agreement mistakes.
• In the conclusion, the student mentioned ‘affluent background’, which was never discussed in the previous paragraphs.
• There is a major need for improvement in task response and cohesion.

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