Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-31

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)

I agree that it is better to buy branded clothes rather than non-branded ones. There are many aspects related to this for example, branded clothes last longer, and their quality is superior on the contrary to that of cheaper attire.

Branded clothes give you the best quality, though they can be a bit expensive, the person will never be disappointed. I myself now buy branded attire; before, I used to buy non-branded clothes, and I was always let down by the quality of those clothes. Sometimes cheaper clothes faded just after two or three washes, whereas, in comparison, expensive clothes do not fade even after fifty washes. I have experienced this with my clothes.

If we talk about the longevity of the clothes, cheaper clothes do not even come close to branded ones. I have been wearing my branded clothes for almost a year now; all my jeans and shirts are in perfect condition. On the other hand, my father bought a few cheaper jeans and shirts a few months back; the color of the jeans faded. If I talk about shirts, they shrank just after the first wash, and now he is wearing my shirts because we are the same size; my clothes fit him easily. My dad really fell in love with these shirts. Now he is telling me I will always buy expensive clothes.

In the end, after all my personal experiences, I can say that people should buy branded clothes. Expensive clothes give you a sense of security; I read somewhere that it is a good option to buy one pair of expensive clothes rather than buying ten pairs of cheaper clothes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the opening and maintained throughout: you support buying fewer, more expensive clothes. You give relevant reasons—durability and better quality—and illustrate them with personal comparisons between your clothes and your father’s. This addresses the task well. However, the discussion focuses mainly on fading and shrinking, while the broader claim that expensive clothes are a better purchase could be developed further, for example by considering cost over time, environmental impact, or exceptions such as poor-quality brands. The final point about having read that one expensive pair is preferable to ten cheaper pairs is not explained or connected closely to your own evidence. More balanced development of these points would make the argument more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present supporting examples, and a conclusion restates your position. The comparisons between your clothes and your father’s also help the reader follow the argument. Some linking is effective, such as “On the other hand,” but transitions can feel mechanical or imprecise. For instance, “If we talk about the longevity” announces a topic rather than smoothly developing the previous point, and “In the end, after all my personal experiences” repeats the conclusion signal. The first paragraph also joins several claims in a long sentence, making the relationship between them less clear. Use more varied links and make each paragraph’s central point explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary to discuss clothing quality and durability, including “faded,” “shrunk,” “longevity,” and “perfect condition.” These choices make your examples easy to understand, and you attempt more specific expressions such as “a sense of security.” However, some wording is repetitive or imprecise: “branded clothes” is repeated often, and “the person will never be disappointed” is an overly broad claim. A few collocations are unnatural, including “on the contrary to that of cheaper attire” and “fell in love with these shirts.” Aim for more precise terms and natural combinations, such as “higher-quality garments” or “retain their colour.” This would add flexibility and improve the formality of the argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including comparisons with “whereas” and “On the other hand,” and most of the meaning remains clear. Some sentences show useful control, such as the comparison between clothes fading after a few washes and remaining unchanged after many. However, there are some errors in sentence boundaries and punctuation. “Branded clothes give you the best quality, though they can be a bit expensive, the person will never be disappointed” joins independent clauses with commas; divide it or use a suitable conjunction. The opening sentence also needs clearer punctuation around “for example.” There are occasional awkward constructions, such as “I will always buy expensive clothes,” where the reported speech needs a clearer subject and structure. More accurate clause joining would strengthen control.

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