Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-05
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 6.0)
Nowadays, amount of pictures accompanied in news stories are greater than last decade. People are debating over whether these pictures hold more significance than words. I personally believe that picture could explain the information without reading a word. The main reason to support my viewpoint are time saving and connecting effectively with readers.
On one hand, images convey more information than words while taking fewer space. This is because, pictures are easy to understand. People from different age group can understand the underlying meaning. Moreover, readers could connect more emotionally while seeing a photo rather than reading through hundreds of words. For instance, the recent study by the University of Toronto took 100 people. They read a news article without any image and one with at least two images. People preferred to read a news article with images, which has seen 70% votes.
On the other hands, people are working for longer hours. They have fewer hours to spend on leisure activities such as family time spending or doing a physical activity. Reading a news article filled with words is not pleasing them. Adding more visuals at the start of a news article could help readers to scam and understand the problem quickly compared to reading it. For example, Yahoo news published a 30 second news blog, which summarize an article with visuals and minimum text. People could read it during early morning commute to work or before bed rapidly.
To conclude, the government and local newspapers should focus more on adding more visuals into a news article. It is not time consuming and readers from different age group also understand.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5
The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position on the effectiveness of pictures in news stories compared to words. Main ideas are introduced, such as time-saving benefits and emotional connection, and supported with reasons and examples, such as the referenced University of Toronto study. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others; for instance, the conclusion abruptly introduces a new and slightly disconnected suggestion regarding government action that is not fully integrated with the main arguments. The position is maintained throughout, though further expansion on how pictures outweigh words in specific contexts would elevate the task response to the next level.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and logical paragraphing. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'On one hand', 'Moreover', and 'For instance', though referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or repetitive, particularly with the transition 'On the other hands'. Paragraphs are generally structured around central topics, but the progression between sentences could be smoothed to ensure seamless transitions of thought. To reach higher bands, the writer should employ a wider variety of cohesive relationships without relying on formulaic phrases.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the writer's meaning. The student attempts some less common vocabulary and phrases, such as 'underlying meaning' and 'leisure activities', but these are accompanied by lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'amount of pictures accompanied in' instead of 'accompanying', and 'family time spending' instead of 'spending time with family'. Spelling is generally accurate, but some collocational slips occur, such as 'scam' instead of 'scan', which slightly impede the natural flow of communication. Expanding the repertoire of precise collocations and natural phrasing will enhance lexical range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures. There are several grammatical and punctuation errors present, such as articles and pluralization issues in 'Nowadays, amount of pictures' and 'from different age group', as well as subject-verb agreement slips like 'The main reason... are'. However, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede overall communication. The punctuation is generally functional. To achieve a higher level of accuracy and range, the writer needs to demonstrate better control over articles, plural forms, and complex sentence patterns.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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