Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19
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)
Technology has made our lives more easier to live. Some people believe that in digital age, theatres and cinemas are no longer important as people watch all the enterntainment that they want to watch online while, other argue that theatres and cinemas are still important. In my opinion cinemas and theatres still holds greater importance because they provide cultural, social and economic benefits.
On one hand, technology has made it more convient, we can watch movies and different programs at any time. We don't need to travel long distances to watch newly released fils as technology has improved alot. Peolpe have expensive smartphones and best quality laptops on which they can watch variety of movies and tv programms at high qualty. Secondly, Cinemas ticket may be expensive so it would be difficult for large families to visit cinema rather they can all watch their favourite movies sitting together at a single place in their house.For example, people can watch newly released films or television programmes through online streaming platforms without visiting a cinema.This will reduce their fuel cost and will also save their travelling time.
On the other hand, Cinemas and theatres still hold cultural importance, they help bringing people of different age and culture together at a single place.Cinemas still preserve local culture. Furthermore, cinemas provide economic benefits by creating employment oppertunities. Many people gets oppertunity to work and earn livelihood for their familes like actress, directors, security staff, cleaners and cinema staff.So cinemas and theatres still holds great importance.
Taking all these factors into account, no doubt technology had made our lives more easy and comfortable. we can watch whatever we want online but cinemas still holds cultural economic and social benefits which are off great importance.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully addresses all parts of the task. The student discusses the view that theatres and cinemas are no longer important due to online streaming, acknowledges the counter-argument regarding their cultural and economic value, and clearly states their own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant, such as discussing streaming convenience versus employment opportunities and cultural preservation. However, some supporting points tend to be a bit repetitive, and examples could be more fully developed to reach a higher band. For instance, the mention of fuel costs and saving time is somewhat basic. Overall, the prompt is covered adequately, earning a solid Band 6.5 to 7.0, with Band 6.0 reflecting the under-developed nature of some supporting arguments.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay demonstrates a clear overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing each viewpoint, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. However, cohesion within paragraphs is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the sentence starting with 'On one hand, technology has made it more convient, we can watch movies...' contains a comma splice and lacks appropriate transitional phrasing. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and repetitive sentence openings ('On one hand', 'On the other hand') indicate a somewhat formulaic approach to cohesion. These issues place the response firmly in Band 6, where the arrangement is coherent overall, but cohesive devices and referencing require better management.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'preserves local culture', 'employment opportunities', and 'streaming platforms'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('enterntainment', 'convient', 'fils', 'Peolpe', 'programms', 'qualty', 'oppertunities') and word-choice inaccuracies ('Cinemas ticket may be expensive', 'helps bringing people'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 6.0, as the vocabulary usage lacks the precision and flexibility required for Band 7.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and relative clauses ('as people watch all the entertainment that they want to watch online'). However, there is a lack of consistent control over grammar and punctuation. Errors include comparative structure issues ('more easier'), comma splices ('technology has made it more convient, we can watch movies'), and subject-verb agreement slips ('cinemas and theatres still holds'). Punctuation is occasionally omitted at sentence boundaries, and capitalization errors occur mid-sentence ('Peolpe'). Despite these frequent errors, meaning is rarely impeded, which aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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