Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-07

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)

It is widely acknowledged that news contents on TV and newspapers often include photographs to attract more readers. Some people are of the view that it makes a greater impact than words. This essay will discuss reasons behind why I believe that balanced combination approach of pictures and words is more effective.

To commence with, the main reason why some individuals believe in this view is visual understanding. If news content is accompanied by photographs, it is more likely to understand and imagine the story of that topic, which can help user to decide whether to read the article or not. For instance, sports fans usually show more interest in contents of sports. Hence, when they see such articles with the photos, they directly start reading it instead of spending time on another articles. As a result, they save time, which can be utilized in other activities.

However, balanced approach should be applied because the given view can mislead to wrong information. If only pictures are provided, readers might just imagine the situation without reading the content. As a result, they will not have complete clue about the entire news. To illustrate, if newspaper shows news on some frauds and include photos of the person who helped victim to overcome situation, it might happen that readers mistakenly find that person responsible for fraud. Therefore, newspaper editor should always make sure that they also print relevant information with the photos, which will help readers to become familiar with an entire incident.

To sum up, although pictures can help readers to imagine a story and save time, I believe news contents always maintain the ratio between photographs and words, which can help to convey right information.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear position that a balanced approach is superior to relying solely on pictures. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed. However, the explanation in the second body paragraph regarding the 'fraud' example is slightly confusing and could have been more clearly articulated to fully support the argument. The introduction and conclusion are present, though the conclusion is somewhat brief. Overall, the response is focused and maintains a consistent stance throughout, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0 level of task development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'For instance', 'However', and 'To sum up' are used to guide the reader. While the progression of ideas is generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing (e.g., 'the given view can mislead to wrong information'). Despite these minor flaws, the overall structure is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use some less common items, such as 'widely acknowledged' and 'convey right information'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'it is more likely to understand' (should be 'it is easier to understand') and 'have complete clue' (should be 'have a complete picture'). While these errors do not impede communication, they limit the score to the 6.0 range as the range is sufficient but not highly flexible or precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('on TV and newspapers', 'on other articles') and awkward phrasing ('if newspaper shows news on some frauds'). Some sentences are slightly clunky, such as 'I believe news contents always maintain the ratio', which lacks a necessary preposition or clearer structure. While the meaning is generally clear and the errors do not cause significant difficulty for the reader, the frequency of these minor errors prevents a higher score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.