Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some consumers are increasingly choosing to buy goods that are produced in their local area, rather than imported goods.

What are the reasons for this?

Is this a positive or a negative trend?

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In recent times, consumption of locally produced goods has increased as compared to imported goods. In my opinion, it is a positive trend and has several economic benefits. With the help of this essay I would like to discuss those in further paragraphs.

Firstly, consumers are moving towards local products because of various reasons. Take for instance, local products are cheaper in cost, as they were produced within the same country and it promotes independence as we don't have to rely on imported products. Moreover, it also helps in boosting the economy, which is extremely important for any nation in the current times.

Secondly, to handle situations like tariffs. For example, because of political reasons, last year the United States of America had applied plenty of tariffs over the Canadian Government, due to that prices of imported food items had seen a sharp increase. As a result, Canada has started exploring their locally produced goods in order to tackle the situation. Nevertheless, it helped in building the trust of general public among their fellow Canadians and similarly such issues could easily be handled in the future.

However, critics may argue that by doing this it will impact market pricing. To illustrate further, many countries import goods because it provides variety and competition to their fellow producers. Ultimately, general public choose which product they want to buy without doing a compromise on the quality and cost. It also helps avoid monopoly businesses.

To conclude, both sides present strong arguments. However, I still opine that, local made products is better choice and this trend should continue further. Considering the major reason of increased consumption, such as, to become self sufficient, to handle difficult times like war and tariffs, it is a positive trend and right one as well.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the trend and the writer's opinion on whether it is positive or negative. The ideas are relevant, such as economic benefits and handling trade tariffs. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The explanation of why local goods are cheaper is brief, and the counter-argument regarding variety and competition is introduced but not fully integrated into the writer's overall stance. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting examples, particularly the mention of the US-Canada tariff situation, could be more precisely explained to fully demonstrate the link between local production and economic resilience.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate different points. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', 'Nevertheless', and 'To illustrate further' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as in the sentence 'Nevertheless, it helped in building the trust...', where the antecedent for 'it' is slightly ambiguous. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and the structure supports the argument well.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. The writer uses some topic-specific terms like 'tariffs', 'monopoly', and 'self-sufficient'. However, there are some instances of slightly unnatural phrasing or word choice, such as 'doing a compromise' instead of 'making a compromise' and 'local made products' instead of 'locally-made products'. The range is sufficient to convey meaning clearly, but it lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band score. The repetition of basic structures and some minor collocation errors limit the score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'as they were produced' (tense inconsistency), 'the general public' (missing article), and 'local made products is better choice' (missing article and subject-verb agreement). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur with enough frequency to prevent a higher score. The writer attempts complex sentences, but the control over articles and verb tenses is inconsistent. Improving the accuracy of these basic grammatical elements would significantly enhance the quality of the writing.

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