Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15
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)
In this modern digital era, there has been an increasing debate about whether people should visit theatres or utilize the digital platform to entertain themselves. While it is true that individuals are increasingly depended on online platforms, I firmly believe that traditional entertainment platforms holds significant economical and cultural values as not everyone has access to online entertainment.
On the one hand, proponents of digital platforms claim that utilizing online platforms namely Netflix, YouTube, or Prime Amazon have premium movies, shows, and dramas, which is not only cheap way to watch but it also saves time. This means that it is affrodable and allows people to watch the same shows from the comfort of their home.For instance, after covid number of digital media consumers have significantly increased, which means that the proportion of consumers who walk themselves to the theatres have declined. Therefore, people are gradually influenced to consume the entertainment content through online platforms. However, in my personal opinion this doesn't represent the whole population.
On the other hand, many consumers around the world doesn't have access to online platforms due to which film industries invest hugely on movies to showcase in the theatres for the audience. People visit the cinemas halls to
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student attempts to address both views and provide a personal opinion, covering the main parts of the prompt. However, the response is incomplete, ending mid-sentence in the second body paragraph, which severely impacts the development of ideas and results in an under-length essay of only 204 words compared to the 250-word minimum. The position is stated, but the arguments remain underdeveloped due to the truncation. Because the word count requirement is not met, the task achievement is heavily penalised, placing it firmly at Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay demonstrates some basic overall organisation with standard cohesive devices such as 'While it is true', 'On the one hand', and 'For instance'. Paragraphing is attempted, with clear breaks for the introduction and body paragraphs. However, because the essay cuts off abruptly at the end, logical progression and paragraph development are incomplete. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of a conclusion and the truncated final sentence disrupt the overall coherence of the piece, limiting the score to Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for discussing the topic, including terms like 'digital era', 'proponents', and 'film industries'. There are, however, several vocabulary and spelling errors, such as 'depended' instead of 'dependent', 'economical' instead of 'economic' (when referring to value), 'affrodable' (spelling error), and awkward collocations like 'walk themselves to the theatres'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as concessive clauses ('While it is true that...'). However, there are noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'traditional entertainment platforms holds' instead of 'hold', and 'many consumers... doesn't' instead of 'don't'), and awkward phrasings. Punctuation errors also appear, such as a missing space after a full stop ('home.For instance'). These errors occur frequently enough to prevent the score from reaching Band 6.0, placing it at Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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