Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-28

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)

In this era, traveling has become way easier than before, so has knowing other people's life style in other countries because of the rapidly increasing influence of media all around the globe. I believe, this change has more positive impact on society than negative.

First of all, earlier when you travelled somewhere for the first time, you might not be aware of that countries places and culture. Whereas, now, because of the media you can research the place before going there. For example, a person is first time visiting a country and suddenly feels not well for some reason. if the person already knows about the country's places, it would be easier for him to find a hospital and get a treatment. Therefore, media has its own advantages when it comes to traveling.

Secondly, through media we are able to see how people in other developed countries are living and it influences our lifestyle as well. People tend to adapt what they like and inspire. To exemplify a person who is following someone on social media, who does exercise regularly and have a balanced diet, then there is a possibility he may adapt the healthy life for himself. By this I mean, media is strongly affecting people's life choices nowadays.

However, where the media encourages the positive changes in people, it could also have a negative impact on some. For instance, a few people could be discouraged by seeing other person's perfect and stable life. Nevertheless, this could be more related to how people perceive things rather than a disadvantage of media.

To conclude, because of media many people are able to live a better life and they are not afraid f traveling to new places.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of international travel and mass media, and clearly states a position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in the introduction ('I believe, this change has more positive impact on society than negative'). The ideas are generally relevant, covering travel preparation and lifestyle changes. However, some arguments lack full development; for instance, the example about falling ill while traveling is a bit contrived and focuses more on general travel than the prompt's core focus on knowing how other people live. Similarly, the counter-argument regarding negative impacts is brief. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, such as travel advantages in paragraph two, lifestyle influences in paragraph three, and disadvantages in paragraph four. Cohesive devices are employed, including transition markers like 'First of all', 'Secondly', 'However', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and cohesion can sometimes feel mechanical or repetitive ('through media', 'because of media'), and logical progression between some sentences is slightly disjointed. This aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor criteria for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'rapidly increasing influence', 'lifestyle', 'balanced diet', and 'perceive things'. There are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'life style' instead of lifestyle, 'that countries places' instead of that country's places, and 'get a treatment' instead of receive treatment. Spelling and word choice errors occur, but they do not impede overall communication. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items with varying degrees of success, placing the vocabulary firmly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. Examples of complex structures include relative clauses and conditional-like constructions, such as 'For example, a person is first time visiting a country and suddenly feels not well...'. However, there are notable grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, including comma splices, missing articles ('a person is first time visiting'), and slight tense inconsistencies. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded. The level of grammatical accuracy and structural variety corresponds to a Band 6 score.

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