Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-15

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that old buildings, such as town halls and art galleries, should be restored, even though this can be costly. Others argue that governments should replace them with new, modern buildings.

Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Whether to spend more money on maintenance and preservation of heritage or to build a complete new eco friendly modern building has become talk of an hour all over the world. Today, we will discuss consequences and benefits of both aspects with personal opinion on what action government should move forward with.

Firstly, huge concern of maintenance cost associated with heritage and long standing architect could not be hidden. As material used in construction of original building is usually not readily available and making them specifically do involve significant financial burden on government spending. Meanwhile, from my personal experience living close to some fantastic heritage building I can easily assure that these buildings are able to attract tourism much efficiently without major advertisement.

On the other hand, low maintenance modern buildings could help government better manage and spread budget on other improvement of city. Downside of low attraction could be overcome with proper advertisement to attract tourism. Generally, these buildings are equipped modern energy efficient methods such as solar panels and many more systems which further reduces the cost of operating them. Upon first looks and compared to heritage buildings, it might not be crowned ultimate winners from outside view but the impact of these modern buildings will surely be appreciated well beyond to better help manage climate change.

To conclude, I would lean heavily in favour of protecting heritage buildings as these architects might not be able to replicate in future. Concerns of maintenance cost could be dealt with by hosting public fund raises which could also encourage government to keep them by looking at public interest. Modern buildings could be built at new place which might also become heritage in coming decades.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both views and providing a clear personal opinion. The ideas are relevant, such as the financial burden of heritage maintenance versus the environmental benefits of modern buildings. However, some points are slightly under-developed; for instance, the suggestion of 'public fund raises' is a brief mention that could have been expanded to better support the argument. The position is consistent throughout, and the conclusion effectively synthesizes the arguments while maintaining the writer's stance. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully explored with more detailed reasoning or specific examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Meanwhile', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the phrase 'these architects' in the conclusion, which seems to refer to the buildings themselves rather than the architectural style or the buildings. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and the paragraphing is appropriate for the task.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at more sophisticated language like 'financial burden' and 'energy efficient'. However, there are several instances of awkward phrasing and imprecise word choices, such as 'talk of an hour' (idiomatically incorrect; should be 'the talk of the town' or 'a pressing issue'), 'long standing architect' (referring to the building, not the person), and 'crowned ultimate winners'. These errors occasionally impede the precision of the argument, though they do not prevent the reader from understanding the intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the writer attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the' is often missing, e.g., 'on other improvement of city') and pluralization/agreement ('these architects might not be able to replicate'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some awkward phrasings that affect the flow. The errors are noticeable but rarely impede communication. To improve, focus on article usage and ensuring that subjects and verbs agree correctly in more complex sentence constructions.

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