Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-30

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

The ease of international travel and the spread of various kinds of mass media all over the world have made it more possible than ever for people to know how other people live in other countries.

Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?

You should use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence. Write at least 250 words.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The effortlessness of travelling internationally and the expansion of different kinds of mass media all over the globe have made it more easy than ever for people to know how other people spend their lives in other countries. In my opinion, the advantages of this development outweighs the disadvantages.

With the advancement of technology, it is easy to move around the world. In early ages people had to travel for days and even months to reach their destinations, which made them spent much of their lives in travelling. Now-a-days people can easily move from one place to another. This effortless movement have enabled us to share our ideas with others. People from one country can easily find out about the lifestyle of another country for example many tourism loving people from western countries travel to the east to know about the people and their way of living and explore tourist spots. I have seen many English speakers in my country to explore about of historical buildings and monuments, they spend days among the local people to know about them and their stories of life. Many of the travelers among them are the journalists or youtubers and vloggers. They write their stories and make videos which they later publish from their websites, You Tube and other social media channels to let other people around the world read and watch the stories about their everyday life. Nowadays people are more interested in knowing about how other people live their life. Similarly, the live feature of different media platforms enable people to watch each other on live streaming. Likewise these things also have various disadvantages which some people find disturbing. For some people being socially connecting is not a pleasant thing, they don't like to be recorded and shared online.

In conclusion, I would still say that the advantages of easy travelling and spread of social media outweighs the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by acknowledging the ease of travel and media influence, and it takes a clear position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. While you mention tourism and social media, the discussion on disadvantages is very brief and lacks depth, appearing almost as an afterthought. To reach a higher band, you should provide more balanced, well-supported arguments for both sides of the issue, ensuring that the disadvantages are explored with the same level of detail as the advantages. The conclusion is also quite abrupt and does not effectively summarize the main points discussed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the flow of ideas. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive. For instance, you rely heavily on simple transitions like 'Similarly' and 'Likewise'. The progression of ideas within paragraphs could be smoother; some sentences feel disjointed, such as the transition from discussing journalists to the disadvantages of social media. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would significantly enhance the logical flow and overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'advancement of technology' and 'live streaming'. However, the vocabulary is often basic and lacks the precision required for higher bands. There are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'effortlessness of travelling' instead of 'ease of international travel' and 'tourism loving people' instead of 'tourists' or 'travel enthusiasts'. To improve, focus on using more sophisticated synonyms and idiomatic expressions that are appropriate for an academic context, and pay closer attention to word forms and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('this development outweighs' vs 'this development have enabled') and awkward phrasing ('made them spent' instead of 'made them spend'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with run-on sentences and missing commas. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a stronger grasp of complex sentence construction to achieve a higher band score.

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

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