Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-16

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that old buildings, such as town halls and art galleries, should be restored, even though this can be costly. Others argue that governments should replace them with new, modern buildings.

Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

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

Student answer (Band 5.0)

Nowadays, many readers prefer digital books over traditional books and this trend is rising with time . Although, some people still operate on the mindset of investing in a physical copy of a book and there are less chances of plagiarism as well compared to digital versions , I believe reading soft copies have more advantages than drawbacks.

To begin with , the fundamental advantage of using e-books is accessibility and portability. In this digital era, people can easily buy a subscription for digital platforms such as Audible and Kindle can listen or read the books respectively and cherish the ultra luxury of convenience while they are multitasking. Meanwhile, with rising use of soft copies the carbon footprint also declines along with reduction in paper wastage.

On the other hand , there are certain disadvantages when it comes to switiching all digital as well. Plagiarism has become one of the key identifying problem for so many authors and over the time , it has increased with the rise of artifical intelligence and free resources that are available on internet. Another disadvantage of completely switching to digital versions of books is more and more screen time which leads to high cortisol levels , eye-strain and stress in individuals.

In conclusion , vast majority of people have are more inclination towards digital versions of books merely because of the ease of convenience ; however , there are certain readers who would still prefer the traditional stlying of reading by relishing the paper books. Neverthless, In my opinion with the transition , merits clearly outweighs the demerit

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 3.0

The candidate has unfortunately written about digital versus traditional books rather than the prompt's actual topic regarding the restoration versus replacement of old buildings. When a response is largely off-topic, it heavily impacts the task response criterion as the main prompt has not been addressed. Although the candidate presents a clear position and explores advantages and disadvantages, the complete irrelevance of the subject matter means the response cannot satisfy the requirements of Task Achievement for the actual question asked. Consequently, it falls into the lower bands due to addressing a completely different task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

Despite the severe off-topic issue, the essay exhibits a clear organizational structure. The writer uses standard paragraphing, beginning with an introduction that outlines a viewpoint, followed by body paragraphs with clear topic sentences ('To begin with', 'On the other hand'), and a conclusion ('In conclusion'). Cohesive devices are employed, though some referencing and linking are a bit mechanical. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate distinct ideas, demonstrating that the writer understands how to structure an essay even though the content does not match the prompt.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'accessibility', 'portability', 'carbon footprint', 'plagiarism', and 'cortisol levels'. However, there are notable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'ultra luxury of convenience', 'identifying problem', and 'stlying' instead of styling. Spelling errors also occur, such as 'artifical' and 'Neverthless'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is generally not impeded, fitting the Band 6 descriptor for vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and subordinate structures ('Although, some people still operate...'). However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, including awkward spacing before punctuation marks, missing articles, and subject-verb agreement issues, such as 'vast majority of people have are more inclination'. Another error is found in the conclusion where 'merits clearly outweighs' lacks agreement. These errors occur regularly but do not completely impede overall readability.

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.