Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-15
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people say that in the digital age, theatres and cinemas are no longer important as people can watch all the entertainment they want online. Others argue that theatres and cinemas are still important both economically and culturally.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
It is true that people can watch entertainment online. While some argue that in the modern age people can find entertainment on websites, I tend to believe that both theatres and cinemas are significant economically and culturally.
On the one hand, entertainment is available on websites and people can find those easily. Nowadays people tend to use online for viewing programmes. This is because, shows such as movies, series and cartoons are being easily pirated and available on websites. For example, in Canada some people leak films as soon as these are available online, which benefits other people, who may not enjoy movies in cinema halls. As a result, people can find movies they like easily on websites and they can watch it in good quality on their devices.
On the other hand, theatres play a great role in the movie industry. Firstly, people can find their favorite programmes in movie halls and enjoy those on a larger screen. Therefore, theatres are getting money and improving their economic conditions. In addition, people can go to movie centers with their families and they can enjoy a lot sitting together. For instance, people who go to movie halls can meet with people from other society and know their culture, which benefits them by refreshing their mind.
In conclusion, although movies are available online, people still love to watch movies on a larger screen which are available in theatres. In my opinion, they enjoy a lot watching favorite movies in theatres, which significantly benefits the movie industry, and they also know different cultures from movies and other people.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding piracy in the second paragraph is a bit tangential and does not fully explain why online entertainment might replace cinemas. The economic and cultural arguments in the third paragraph are relevant but remain at a surface level; they could be strengthened by discussing specific cultural impacts or the unique social experience of a cinema environment in more detail. Overall, the response covers all parts of the prompt, but the depth of analysis is consistent with a band 6.0 level.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, the flow within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical. For example, the transition 'Therefore, theatres are getting money' is a bit simplistic. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as 'those' in the second paragraph, which refers back to 'programmes' but feels slightly disconnected. The progression of ideas is logical, but the use of cohesive devices could be more sophisticated to achieve a higher band.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. You rely on basic terms like 'find', 'get', and 'enjoy'. Phrases such as 'improving their economic conditions' and 'refreshing their mind' are understandable but not particularly natural or academic. There is an attempt to use some topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'movie industry', 'pirated'), but the overall lexical range is limited. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and less common vocabulary related to the topic of media and economics.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent minor errors in grammar and article usage, such as 'use online for viewing' (should be 'use the internet') and 'meet with people from other society' (should be 'other societies'). There are also some awkward phrasings like 'shows such as movies... are being easily pirated'. While these errors do not impede communication, they demonstrate a lack of full control over complex structures. Increasing the variety of sentence types and proofreading for small grammatical slips would help improve this score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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