Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-14
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)
International travel and the worldwide internet access made it easy to learn more about other cultures. Although there are disadvantages of traveling abroad and the worldwide spread of various kinds of mass media, there are enormous advantages of this development. From my prespective, advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages.
Some of the disadvantages are high costs of traveling and wasting of time by using the internet. Firstly, traveling abroad is costly because tickets of aeroplanes are expensive and After reaching to the destination people have enormous other needs like spaces for living and food which will need a lot of money.Secondly, public use internet more for entertainment instead of information. As a result, people waste their precious time by scrolling social media applications.
Advantages of the development include the knowledge of cultures across the world and the interaction of people of different clutures and faith. People can gain information about other countries and their civilisations through internet. This type of knowledge will help people to think on a broader level. Moreover,Affluents of the society can travel to abroad and interact with people of different mindsets. This interaction may have impact on both individuals in terms of faith, way of thinking, mental and physical health. As they may be able to know the prespectives of others and it may change their way of thinking about any particular thing or their faith.
In conclusion, advantages of international traveling such as knowledge of other cultures and interaction with peopel of different civilisations and the widespread of internet outweigh the diadvantages
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both advantages and disadvantages of international travel and mass media, while taking a clear position that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. The ideas are generally relevant, covering travel costs, time wastage on social media, cultural knowledge, and cross-cultural interaction. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and leans towards over-generalisation, particularly in the body paragraphs where points are stated rather than deeply explored. For instance, the mention that traveling impacts mental and physical health is introduced without sufficient supporting evidence or elaboration. Consequently, this performance fits the Band 6 descriptor, as all parts of the task are addressed, but some areas lack full development and depth.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a clear overall structure with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate advantages from disadvantages. Logical progression is attempted using cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the transition into the advantages paragraph contains awkward phrasing ('Advantages of the development include...'), and repetitive noun phrases like 'this development' and 'advantages of this development' are relied upon heavily. Furthermore, minor punctuation and article omissions affect the flow of reading. These features align the response with a Band 6 score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'civilisations', 'interaction', and 'perspectives'. There are, however, noticeable word choice, spelling, and collocation errors throughout the essay. Examples include 'worldwide internet access made it easy', 'prespective' instead of 'perspective', 'tickets of aeroplanes' instead of 'plane tickets', 'public use internet more', and 'Affluents of the society' instead of 'Affluent members of society'. Additionally, 'clutures' is misspelled. While these errors occur regularly, they do not severely impede communication because the intended meaning remains understandable to the reader, placing this essay squarely at Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating subordinating clauses like 'Although there are disadvantages...' and 'As people can gain information...'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in article usage ('the worldwide internet access', 'public use internet'), preposition selection ('reaching to the destination', 'travel to abroad'), and subject-verb agreement or tense consistency ('International travel and the worldwide internet access made it easy'). Despite these errors in grammar and punctuation, the sentence structures remain comprehensible and do not heavily obstruct the flow of ideas, reflecting the characteristics of a Band 6 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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