Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-31

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)

It is incontrovertible that for items which are produced locally, customers are significantly selecting those products as compared to foreign products. In this discourse, I will explain factors behind this trend and how it leads to a negative development.

In this contemporary world, things are getting expensive and a wise choice of product is vital. One of the most prominent reasons in favor of choosing local products is affordability and convenience. In other words, most imported items are exorbitant due to import duties and because of imposed tariffs by their nations. In addition to this, it is quite remarkably straightforward for returns or exchanges of locally manufactured goods as their parent companies usually reside in the city or state. Moreover, a consumer can have a wide range of choices while selecting any item, if it is produced by local residents as compared to a limited choice of imported goods.

However, this movement leads to a pessimistic outcome as by totally relying on local items, a resident could become unfamiliar with the more advanced products of other nations. For instance, in India, people are fond of local yogurt and they are not aware of Greek yogurt, which is high in protein, bought from western countries such as from Canada or The United States of America. Therefore, they would eventually miss the opportunity by choosing only local products. Furthermore, quality could be compromised, if sellers know that customers are just focusing on the country of manufacture, not on other factors.

To recapitulate, after taking everything into consideration, it can be said that some factors behind this trend are affordability, hassle-free deals and numerous choices, leads to negative trend.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for choosing local goods and the evaluation of this trend. The ideas are relevant, such as affordability and convenience for the reasons, and the potential for limited exposure to global innovation for the negative trend. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding 'wide range of choices' for local goods is debatable and could have been better supported with a concrete example. The conclusion is also quite brief and slightly repetitive. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with more detailed explanations or nuanced examples.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the reasons from the evaluation. Cohesive devices such as 'In addition to this', 'Moreover', and 'However' are used to guide the reader through the argument. While the progression is generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Additionally, the final sentence of the conclusion is grammatically fragmented and lacks a smooth connection to the preceding points, which slightly affects the overall flow. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring sentence-level cohesion would strengthen this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally appropriate and sufficient for the task. You have used some good collocations and academic phrasing, such as 'incontrovertible', 'contemporary world', and 'exorbitant'. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'hassle-free deals' which is slightly informal for this context, and 'pessimistic outcome' which is not the most precise collocation for describing a trend. The range is adequate to convey your meaning clearly, but to achieve a higher score, you should aim to incorporate more sophisticated, topic-specific vocabulary and demonstrate more precise control over word choice in complex contexts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is good control over basic grammar, and communication is never impeded by errors. However, there are some noticeable slips, such as 'if sellers know that customers are just focusing on the country of manufacture, not on other factors' (the comma usage is unnecessary) and the final sentence, which is grammatically incomplete: '...leads to negative trend.' To improve, focus on refining complex sentence structures and ensuring consistent subject-verb agreement and article usage. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will help move your score into the higher bands.

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