Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-04

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 recent years, there has been growing concern about the ease of international travel and the spread of various kinds of mass media all over the world that have made it more possible than ever for people to know how other people live in other countries. I strongly believe that the advantages of this develipment outweigh the disadvantages.

The primary reason for this is that the ease of international travel gave access for travelers around the world to learn the cultures of other nations. For instance, a traveler from the Philippines would like to experience the uniqueness of culture of people from Vietnam, the traveler can simply travel to that country. It will give the traveler an oppotunity to eat authentic Vietnamese cuisines, and have conversation to Vietnamese. In addition, a traveler may have knowledge to the culture of Vietnam through visiting temples, museums and tourist spots.

Equally important is the fact that spreading various kinds of mass media all over the world encourage people to travel to other country of their preference. For example, influencers or content creators who post videos on Tiktok or Facebook about their travel experiences from different countries will disseminate information or ideas widely on how people live in other countries. As a result, people will be persuaded to watch and learn more about different nationalities' ways of living without the need to visit the country in person.

In conclusion, I believe that the outcomes of the ease of international travel and the use of various social media affect widely wherein it resulted to more advantageous knowledge of people on how other people live in different countries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

First, it must be noted that the response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 250 words, containing only 227 words (excluding the 45 words copied directly from the prompt). Regarding the content, the response addresses the prompt only partially. While a position is stated in the introduction, the ideas remain limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on travel in the second body paragraph relies heavily on basic narration and examples, such as a traveler from the Philippines going to Vietnam, without fully extending the argument regarding whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Similarly, the mass media argument focuses more on how content creators share information rather than deeply analyzing the comparative pros and cons of this phenomenon. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to fully develop all parts of the task with extended explanations and ensure the word count requirement is met.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates some organization, but lacks a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is attempted, with distinct introduction, body, and concluding sections, but the internal flow within paragraphs feels mechanical and repetitive. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes inaccurate or overly basic, such as the repetitive use of 'Equally important is the fact that' and 'In addition'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the conclusion where phrases like 'affect widely wherein it resulted to' create confusion rather than seamless progression. To improve in this area, the writer needs to ensure that cohesive devices are employed more naturally and that each sentence clearly links to the next to build a cohesive and progressive argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'authentic', 'disseminate', and 'influencers', but noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling occur throughout the text. For example, 'develipment' is misspelled, 'have conversation to Vietnamese' contains a collocation and preposition error, and 'cultures of other nations' could be expressed with greater precision. While communication is not severely impeded, these recurring lexical inaccuracies restrict the response. To progress, the writer should focus on expanding their range of vocabulary, mastering word forms, and using more precise collocations suited to academic writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple or faulty complex forms. Frequent errors in grammar are evident, such as tense and agreement issues like 'the ease of international travel gave access' instead of 'gives' or 'has given', and missing articles or incorrect prepositions in patterns like 'knowledge to the culture' and 'travel to other country'. Punctuation and word-level grammar interactions also cause difficulty for the reader. The complexity attempted is frequently marred by structural errors. To achieve a higher band, the writer must demonstrate better control over a wider variety of complex structures and significantly reduce the frequency of basic grammatical errors.

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

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