Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-21

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

It is better to buy just a few expensive clothes, rather than lots of cheaper clothes.

Do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

People often argue that it is advisable to invest in a few high end luxury brand clothing over shopping multiple low priced clothes. My thoughts align with this notion as it leads to spending spree and surge in dumping.

On one hand, expensive merchandise tend to last longer due to its high quality fabric and durability. So consumers ought to reuse it majority of the times, which saves a lot of money in long run. For example a shirt bought from Zara can be worn numerous times and lasts for more than a year. Therefore, consumers need to invest only in few clothes for their daily use. Whereas, cheap clothes can only be worn few times due to their low quality and poor durability. Hence, buyers need to buy more clothes throughout the year as they run out of them pretty fast. For illustration, clothing stores like Urban Fashion sell more in compared to luxury brands like Gucci due to its affordability.

Additionally, people often donate premium branded clothes after they have worn it multiple times, which are bought by families of low income bracket from thrift stores. Hence, these clothes are still in a fair condition and are worn by poor people for years. However, cheap and inexpensive items cannot be donated and have to be dumped. This leads to surge in dumping and has a detrimental impact on the environment.

In conclusion, shopping only few expensive clothing attire saves money in long run and also saves the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt clearly, maintaining a consistent position throughout. You have provided relevant arguments regarding durability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the example of Zara as a 'luxury brand' is factually confusing, as it is generally considered a 'fast fashion' retailer, which weakens your argument. To reach a higher band, ensure your examples are precise and provide more depth in your reasoning. While the position is clear, the supporting arguments could be more thoroughly extended to demonstrate a deeper analysis of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'On one hand,' 'Additionally,' and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as the use of 'it' when referring to plural nouns like 'clothes.' Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. To improve, focus on creating smoother transitions between sentences and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to their intended antecedents to enhance the flow of your arguments.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'merchandise,' 'affordability,' and 'detrimental impact.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'shopping multiple low priced clothes' is awkward; 'purchasing multiple low-priced items' would be more natural. Additionally, the phrase 'surge in dumping' is slightly unnatural in this context. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning, you should aim to use more precise collocations and a wider variety of sophisticated lexical items to move beyond a functional level of expression.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('expensive merchandise tend to last') and article usage ('invest only in few clothes'). Furthermore, there are punctuation and phrasing errors, such as 'For example a shirt' missing a comma, and 'in compared to' which is grammatically incorrect. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles will significantly improve your accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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