Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-05

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)

Whether to invest in a small wardrobe with high quality garments or purchasing a lot of inexpensive clothing has become a subject of significant debate. While the budget-friendly options offer variety and accessibility, I strongly believe that buying a few well-made clothes is far more superior than having a lot of cheaper clothes because it promotes environmental sustainability, durability and financial value over time. This essay will discuss all the reasons that support the agreement in detail.

First and foremost, high quality garments are built to last longer, offering better durability and lower long-term costs. Inexpensive clothes are mass produced using different synthetic fibres and poor stitching quality, causing items to fade, or lose the original shape, and sometimes wear off after a few significant washes. However, high quality fabrics that are made typically use premium materials such as wool, silk, cotton and leather. Though these costs more to produce a single piece of apparel for example leather, they endure over a decade and do not fade away even when used numerous times without degrading. Overall, the cost per wear can be considerably reduced over time compared to frequent purchase of poor quality apparel.

Furthermore, prioritizing quality over quantity is economically sustainable choice and mitigates the detrimental environmental impacts on the fast fashion. For instance, over consuming the clothes quite often can increase the landfill waste and rapidly raises the pollution level in the oceans by synthetic dyes and factories that release their waste when creating mass production of the clothes and by sufficing the needs of the todays fashion world. Consequently, purchasing fewer well-made clothes, makes consumers reject the overconsumption.

In conclusion, buying a few premium quality clothes rather than accumulating an excess of cheaper garments is a safer choice due to its super durability and promote environmental safety.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position in the introduction and maintaining it throughout. The arguments regarding durability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact are relevant and well-developed. The essay provides specific examples, such as the mention of materials like wool and silk, to support the main points. The ideas are extended logically, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main stance. To reach a higher band, the student could provide more nuanced examples or explore potential counter-arguments more deeply to demonstrate a more sophisticated level of critical thinking.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a central topic, and cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' are used effectively to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and sentence flow, such as the slightly awkward phrasing in the final sentence of the second paragraph. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points, contributing to the overall clarity of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Phrases like 'environmental sustainability', 'detrimental environmental impacts', and 'cost per wear' show an awareness of topic-specific collocations. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'far more superior' (which is redundant, as 'superior' already implies comparison) and 'wear off' (where 'wear out' would be more accurate). Despite these occasional slips, the vocabulary is adequate for the task and allows for clear communication of complex ideas.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While there is good control over grammar, there are several persistent errors that prevent a higher score. For instance, 'Though these costs more' should be 'Though these cost more', and 'the todays fashion world' contains a possessive error. Additionally, there are some awkward phrasings, such as 'by sufficing the needs of the todays fashion world'. Despite these errors, the meaning is never obscured, and the student demonstrates a reasonable command of complex structures, such as conditional-like reasoning and relative clauses.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.