Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-20

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)

Nowadays it is much arguable that following the immense growth of technology, people can easily watch online all the shows and movies without needing to go to the cinema or theatre. However, I believe that they are still important in multiple aspects and most people only prefer to watch old entertainments online.

There are several online platforms available such as Netflix and amazon prime where people can watch all the shows they want but they also comes with a subscription fees and video quality is highly dependant on the quality of internet available at your home. In contrast to this, back to my university days when all the boys decided to watch a movie together. We all gathered at my home to watch, we all were deeply disappointed since the video was buffering alot just because the internet quality is usually down in peak hours which is unlikely to be happened while watching in a cinema.

Importance of cinemas have both economical and cultural effect since people still love watching popular shows in the big screen with adequate environment. This can be clearly defended by giving the example of recently released movie of Spiderman, it had so much hype that all the cinemas were sold out for the whole weekend making it the top grossing movie of this year worldwide.

In conclusion, digital age has clearly helped us in watching all the movies in comfort of our home but it is still not able to nullify the hype and need of cinemas from our society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both views required by the prompt and presents a clear personal position stating that cinemas and theatres remain important. The ideas are generally relevant, though the development tends to be somewhat anecdotal, as seen in the personal university anecdote about buffering internet. While the economic and cultural aspects mentioned in the prompt are touched upon briefly through the Spiderman box office example, the discussion could be more thoroughly extended. The writer satisfies the demands of the task and presents a clear stance throughout, corresponding to a Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For instance, the transition in the second paragraph ('In contrast to this, back to my university days...') is awkward and fails to create a smooth logical bridge. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and cohesive devices are somewhat basic. Progression is discernible, but the overall management of cohesion aligns best with a Band 6.0 descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'subsequently', 'subscription fees', and 'top grossing movie'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'much arguable' instead of 'much debated', 'old entertainments' instead of 'older entertainment', and 'dependant' (spelled with an 'a'). There are also minor spelling slips like 'alot' and awkward phrasings. Communication is not impeded, but the lexical control is limited, placing this firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some command over sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, such as 'video was buffering alot just because the internet quality is usually down' (tense inconsistency and spelling) and 'which is unlikely to be happened' (passive voice error). Punctuation and article use are occasionally imprecise. The majority of sentences contain errors or awkwardness, which matches the Band 5.0 descriptor for grammatical range and accuracy.

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