Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-19

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)

It is often argued that buying a small number of expensive clothes is better than purchasing a many cheap-quality clothes. I agree with this notion, that purchasing a some number of quality clothes are better as they offer durability and will stay longer than the cheaper ones.

One of the major advantages of buying the expensive clothes is that they are made from the high quality material which provides the consumers with mental peace not to buy clothes again and again. For instance, purchasing a coat can provide durability of mininum of three to four years, whereas cheaper clothes only worn once. Secondly buying a stylish and expensive clothes helps the customer to keep wardrobe clean and tidy. For example, by paying for more cheapers clothes the consumer will have the unneccessary stuff in their wardrobe, which may be hinder their selection of wearing the speacial clothes on some special occasions.

Another main crucial point is that prestigious clothing enhances the aura of the customer as their clothes represents their identity in the society. A relevant example to this is royal suit worn by people of Uk for royal events. Futhermore, the more stylish and the most expensive clothing increases the overall personality of the individual.

However, cheaper clothes are not worse but clothing needs to be expensive in terms of material rather than paying more for it. The durability of the clothing makes the real difference.

To conclude, buying a generally expensive clothing is far better instead of many cheap quality clothes as clothes represents the person's overall personality. But the clothing needs to be expensive in terms of durability and quality of the materials used in it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt effectively, presenting a clear position agreeing that buying fewer, more expensive clothes is preferable. The ideas are relevant and supported with explanations regarding durability, wardrobe management, and personal identity. However, some arguments lack full extension or slip into minor generalisations, and the body paragraphs contain some repetitive phrasing. For instance, the point regarding wardrobe management ('helps the customer to keep wardrobe clean and tidy') is somewhat superficial. Overall, the task is addressed adequately and meets the requirements for a Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with logical sequencing of ideas across paragraphs, moving from durability to wardrobe management and then to identity. Paragraphing is utilised, separating the introduction, body points, and conclusion adequately. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen with phrases like 'Another main crucial point is that' and 'Futhermore'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical transitions between some sentences require more precise linking words to achieve a smoother flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'durability', 'prestigious', and 'enhances the aura'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations throughout the text, including 'purchasing a many cheap-quality clothes', 'cheapers clothes', and 'royal suit worn by people of Uk'. Spelling errors such as 'mininum', 'unneccessary', 'speacial', and 'Futhermore' also occur. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and conditional-like statements. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles, subject-verb agreement, and pluralisation. Examples include 'purchasing a some number of quality clothes are better', 'buying the expensive clothes', 'cheaper clothes only worn once', and 'buying a stylish and expensive clothes helps'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the frequency of grammatical slips across complex structures places the response firmly in the Band 6.0 category.

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.