Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-25

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)

For the reason, use of different types of mass media has increased alot and the way international travel has now become easy than ever before people from different parts of the world can now know more about how people from other parts of the world are living. The key advantages and some disadvantages are explained in detail along with the conclusion.

One of the main advantages of knowing, how people live around the world is to the tourists. When people come to know about the existing traditions, cultures and the languages from news, dramas and TV shows they get interested in visiting that country. Through mass media tourists can even get the idea about the people. Are they friendly, hospitable, modern or backward. Then they decide wheather to go there or not. For example, the South Korean darams are the main reason why many people are visiting the country. By their K-dramas and K-pop music they let the world know about their country promoting toursim.

With advantages, one of the core disadvange of it is that the same mass media is potrying a very bad image of the under developing countries to the rest of the world. By news and documentries it is presented by the mass media in what situation country people are living in. For example, in past years the world know Pakistan a hub of terorism. However, the reality was totally opposite of that, Pakistan is a very peaceful country. Media was only showcasing the negative parts. They never talked about the natural beauty of the country, the different cultures, the hospitality of the people. All in all, this is affecting not just the people's image but also the economy and tourism industry.

Altogether, in my view benefits and drwabacks both have equal weightage, they go hand in hand. When technology progress either in the form of gaint aeroplanes, cameras and TVs it results in having both positive and negative effects.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The candidate addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of global connectivity through travel and mass media, ultimately offering a balanced view. The position is clear throughout the response. Ideas are generally relevant, such as how media promotes tourism through K-dramas and how it can misrepresent developing nations like Pakistan. However, the development of these ideas tends to be somewhat superficial and repetitive rather than fully extended. For instance, the discussion on Pakistan focuses on a valid point about media bias, but the argument remains underdeveloped compared to Band 7 standards. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The opening sentence is extremely convoluted and grammatically disjointed ('For the reason, use of different types of mass media has increased alot...'), which disrupts the logical flow right at the start. Furthermore, transitions between sentences and ideas can feel abrupt, and referencing is occasionally unclear. Cohesive devices are present but lack smooth integration. This performance aligns best with a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'traditions', 'cultures', 'hospitable', and 'misrepresentation'. There are, however, several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'alot' (instead of 'a lot'), 'wheather' (instead of 'whether'), 'darams' (instead of 'dramas'), 'tourism' (spelled 'toursim'), 'disadvange' (instead of 'disadvantage'), 'potrying' (instead of 'portraying'), 'terorism' (instead of 'terrorism'), and 'drwabacks' (instead of 'drawbacks'). While these errors are frequent, they do not severely impede communication because the writer's meaning generally remains clear. This lexical control corresponds to a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent errors in punctuation, subject-verb agreement, and sentence structure. Examples include the opening run-on sentence, missing commas after introductory dependent clauses (e.g., 'When people come to know about...'), fragments such as 'Are they friendly, hospitable, modern or backward.', and tense/preposition inconsistencies. These errors require the reader to occasionally re-read sections to grasp the intended meaning, matching the description for a Band 5.0.

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

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