Band 8 model answer
A model answer written to illustrate a Band 8 response to this question, with the rubric breakdown and what carries it. Written by us as a teaching example, not a verified exam script.
“Video games are now a major part of many young people's lives. What are the advantages and disadvantages?”8
Overall
8
Task response
8
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
8
Grammar
Video games have become a central part of life for a great many young people. This trend brings both clear advantages and significant disadvantages, which deserve careful consideration.
On the positive side, games are far more than idle entertainment. Many require players to solve problems, think strategically, and react quickly, sharpening cognitive skills that can transfer to study and work. Online multiplayer games allow young people to cooperate and socialise with friends across the world, building teamwork and communication, and a fast-growing professional gaming industry has even turned a once-dismissed hobby into a viable and lucrative career for the most talented players. Games can also be a harmless and enjoyable way to unwind after a long day at school.
The drawbacks, however, are serious. Spending many hours in front of a screen can displace exercise, sleep, and face-to-face interaction, contributing to poor physical health and weaker social skills. Some games are deliberately designed to be addictive, and excessive play can harm academic performance and, in extreme cases, become genuinely compulsive. Late-night gaming, in particular, has been linked to poorer concentration and lower grades the following day. Exposure to violent content is a further concern that worries many parents and educators.
In conclusion, video games can develop useful cognitive and social skills and provide genuine enjoyment, but they also risk encouraging an inactive, isolated lifestyle and, for a minority, addiction. Whether their overall influence is positive or negative depends largely on how much young people play and on the kinds of games they choose to spend their time on.
- •Covers both sides in depth and closes with a balanced, conditional judgement.
- •Ideas are well developed, cognitive and social benefits, even a gaming career, against health, addiction, and violent content.
- •Accurate lexis: “think strategically”, “displace … sleep”, “compulsive”, “cognitive skills”.
- •Varied structures, reliable accuracy, and clear paragraphing.
- •The addiction point would be stronger with a sentence on how games are engineered to hold attention.
Write your own. Get a real band read.
Reading a model answer only takes you so far. Write your own response to this question and we’ll grade it against the four official rubrics, the same way we scored this one.
Attempt this question