Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In the future nobody will buy printed newspapers or books because they will be able to read everything they want online without paying. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Onset of the internet, most news agency and publisher have online presence. However, accessing them is not always free and it will not steer everyone away from buying printed media. So I partially aggree with the statement.

Nowadays, everyone is connected to the world all the time via internet. All of us have phones in our palms and see what's happening on the other end of the world by only clicking. People stay more engaged on their devices rather than reading newspaper and books. Surely, news agency and publishers have noticed this phenomena and are trying to utilize the shift of public habit. As a result, most of the prominent news media all over the world have their own websites to satisfy their offline readers' urge. We can read the New York Times, Reuters, the Guardian on web. Also, mainstream national media outlets have presence in the internet. In Bangladesh, Prothom-Alo and the Daily Star are the most popular newspaper and they both have online presence. On the other hand, different book publishers may not have their respective sites but readers can find their books through various portals such as Amazon E-books, Apple Books etc. Therefore, we can say most printed newspapers and publishers have virtual footprint to retain their readers.

Despite the online presence, not all readers can access the news or the books they would like to read. They are barred against a premium subscription fee to access the complete news article. In free mode, readers can only see the headlines of the news in online.This structure can be seen in promiment international media such as Al-Jajeera, the New York Times, DW News etc. Whereas national newspaper may not have such barrier but they generate their revenue by bombarding the readers with advertisements in free mode. But their premium mode cost a hefty subscription fee to give the reader an ad-free experience. Prothom-alo and the Daily Star websites have such design. If we move to books, we can see something similar. Different e-books stores charge same as their physical counterparts. However, we can see some exceptions for the classic books which copyrights are expired. As significant amount of readers are unwilling to pay, there has been a rise of piracy sites. People can download their books without any charge form here. Despite being completely illegal, it is becoming quite popular specially among third-world country readers.

However, the elder population are more accustomed to read offline rather than online. Therefore, even if the books or newspapers become completely free in future, they will still buy the offline copies. Also many booklovers love the touch of papers and they are unlikely to switch to online.

To summarize, we can already read our favorite newspaper and books online but it's not always free. And online presence of news and books will not prevent everyone from buying printed copies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, presenting a clear position that the statement is only partially true because accessing online content is often not free and many people still prefer traditional formats. Relevant ideas are presented regarding paywalls, advertisements, and reader preferences. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or rely on broad generalizations, such as the brief mentions of the elder population and booklovers in the fourth paragraph. The arguments are easy to follow and the overall scope reaches the requirements, earning a solid score in this category. To achieve a higher level, every main idea would need more thorough expansion and deeper exploration rather than shifting quickly between examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a final summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points, such as online presence, paywalls and piracy, and demographic preferences. However, cohesion is sometimes slightly mechanical or repetitive, with transitions like 'On the other hand,' 'Therefore,' and 'However' applied frequently. Referencing is generally clear, but occasional mechanical linking prevents the essay from flowing with the seamless flexibility characteristic of higher bands. Better integration of cohesive devices without relying on formulaic transition words would elevate this aspect.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating an acceptable range that covers the topic of digital versus print media. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'virtual footprint', 'premium subscription fee', and 'counterparts', showing an awareness of style and collocation. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling errors that prevent a higher mark, such as 'aggree', 'phenomena' used where 'phenomenon' is required, 'promiment', and 'Al-Jajeera'. These inaccuracies do not seriously impede communication, but they highlight limitations in lexical precision and control. Expanding the use of precise phrasing and checking for spelling slips will improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, with attempts at relative clauses and conditional structures. There are some grammatical errors and awkward phrasing throughout the text, including prepositions and articles, such as 'Onset of the internet', 'most news agency', 'barred against', 'cost a hefty subscription fee', and 'which copyrights are expired'. Punctuation is generally manageable, but minor mechanical issues appear, like missing spaces after periods. Despite these errors, communication is rarely impeded, and the mixture of structures demonstrates a fair command of sentence formation. To reach the next level, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free complex sentences and ensure greater accuracy with articles and verb agreements.

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