Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-04

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

News stories on TV and in newspapers are very often accompanied by pictures.

Some people say that these pictures are more effective than words.

What is your opinion about this?

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

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In this unprecedented era, it is an irrefutable fact that news have become an essential part of everyone's life. A number of people argue that news stories on TV and newspaper should be always posted with diagrams to promote better understanding. I partially agree with this notion and this essay will analyze my viewpoint using relevant examples in the ensuing paragraphs.

On the one hand, pictures are significantly attractive and provide a lot more information. If people read news in newspapers with expanded illustrations would give overall idea of the situation. They can predict the phenomenon without doing efforts of reading. Moreover, in this fast-paced era, individuals have lack of time due to hectic schedules, in these cases pictures will help them to obtain superficial idea about stories. What is even more, advertisers often target certain groups of people in order to bring their attention. To exemplify, in India, promotors gave tempting pictures with the paragraphs of details about Cookies, which have caught children's attention and surged the sale of this product.

On the other hand, news without the illustrations could be very efficient and brings positive impact on society. The first and foremost effect is it promotes rudimentary life skills such as critical thinking, imagination power, concentration and problem-solving skills. This is because, if folks read just information regardless of any photos would enable them to think and imagine about the situation, which eventually brings a wide range of creativity in lives. Furthermore, it would be cost effective as reserving journalists to write particular information with colorful images is more expensive and requires tight budget. However, the elderly do not pay much attention towards picture because they like the traditional method of reading newspapers.

In essence, although people will be getting attracted for news stories with drawings as they are easy to understand, save precious time while providing information, it also comes with some drawbacks such as they could put financial burden on producers, hinder imperative life skills for the youth and chances of getting ignored by older people. According to my opinion they should balance this approach by opting appropriate tasks and requirement.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that is maintained throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as the time-saving benefits of images versus the cognitive benefits of text-only news. However, some arguments are slightly under-developed; for instance, the point about 'advertisers' is less relevant to the core topic of news reporting than the general impact of visual journalism. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, though the final sentence is slightly vague. Overall, the response is well-structured and directly answers the prompt, meeting the requirements for a Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used throughout, such as 'On the one hand', 'Furthermore', and 'In essence', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the phrase 'without doing efforts of reading' which disrupts the logical progression. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct viewpoints. The progression of ideas is clear, but the essay would benefit from more sophisticated linking words to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate and allows for clear communication. There is an attempt to use less common items like 'unprecedented', 'irrefutable', and 'rudimentary'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'individuals have lack of time' (should be 'lack time' or 'have a lack of time') and 'promotors gave tempting pictures' (should be 'promoters used'). While the range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, the errors in collocation and occasional awkward phrasing prevent a higher score.

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 'news have become' (subject-verb agreement), 'if people read... would give' (incorrect conditional structure), and 'regardless of any photos would enable' (missing subject). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some run-on sentences and minor errors in article usage. While the errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to suggest that the student has not yet mastered complex structures, placing the performance firmly in the Band 6 range.

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