IELTS Task 2 advantages and disadvantages essay: A gap year before university
A Task 2 advantages and disadvantages question. Weigh both sides, then answer the question as it is asked: whether one side outweighs the other, or whether the development is positive or negative.
3 students’ essays below, each marked by Axiom, from band 7.5 to 8.0. Updated on 9 September 2026.
The question
Some school leavers travel or work for a period of time instead of going directly to university.
Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Students’ essays on this question, marked by Axiom
Across these 3 essays the average band is 7.8: Task Response 8.0, Coherence and Cohesion 7.7, Lexical Resource 8.0, Grammatical Range and Accuracy 8.0. Coherence and Cohesion was the weakest criterion.
Real answers, shared without their writers’ names, newest first. Each opens with its revisions marked in place. Estimated by AI. It isn’t an official IELTS score.
Overall band, an AI estimate: 8.0
Essay #3
Task response 8.0, coherence 8.0, vocabulary 8.0, grammar 8.0
Taking a gap year to travel or work before entering university has become increasingly common among school leavers. Although postponing higher education can have certain…
Overall band, an AI estimate: 8.0
Essay #2
Task response 8.0, coherence 8.0, vocabulary 8.0, grammar 8.0
Taking a gap year to travel or work for some time has become increasingly popular among school leavers before entering university. While this trend entails certain…
Overall band, an AI estimate: 7.5
Essay #1
Task response 8.0, coherence 7.0, vocabulary 8.0, grammar 8.0
Taking a gap year to travel or work for some time has become popular among school leavers before pursuing higher education. While this trend entails certain drawbacks,…
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