Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27

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)

During modern times, certain folks believe that they would prefer watching all sorts types of entertainment at their own convenience specifically, over the internet, while others reckon that even presently cinema plays a vital role in both the financial and values terms. In my opionion, digital technology have made things easiers, but many individuals still cherish going and watching in theaters as reminiscence. This essay will discuss both the views in detail and will provide a logical conclusion.

There are several reasons due to which viewing content online is more suitable. Firstly, online browsing enables viewers to make choice of the content as per their taste. In other words, the technological advancement enables to streamline feed with preferences. To exemplify, parents do add restrictions to their children account to ensure that kids have access to limited stories which are catering their understanding and interests. Another reason is that people tend to save their time by not commutting to movie house office and spending hours in traffic congestion.

On the other hand, a significant number of people argue that the silver screen plays a crucial impact for all it has cinematic effects which hits different. To begin with, many people feel that it reflects the image of old times. For instance, when families used to go together to watch a blockbuster film. Moreover, it leads to increase in the opportunity for an economy to earn more, resulting in paying more tax to government, thus getting financially stronger as a nation.

In conclusion, viewpoints are divided on enjoying play online or, viewing on theater screens impacting both cultural value and monetary aspects. Although there are valid reasons behind both the perspectives, I understand that a perfect balance of both is required in order to strike the right combination.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the view that theatres and cinemas are no longer important due to online entertainment and the counter-argument regarding their cultural and economic value. A clear position is presented in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. Ideas are generally relevant, such as discussing online content customisation, time-saving benefits, and the traditional cinema experience alongside economic contributions. However, some arguments remain somewhat under-developed, such as the brief mention of tax contributions and economic growth, which could have been extended with more specific examples. Overall, the prompt is adequately answered, placing the performance comfortably within the Band 6 descriptor criteria.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, moving logically from introduction to body paragraphs discussing each viewpoint, and finally to a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Firstly', 'Another reason is', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, as seen in phrases like 'due to which viewing content online is more suitable' and the slightly convoluted phrasing in the concluding paragraph. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but the flow between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for the task, including terms like 'technological advancement', 'traffic congestion', and 'blockbuster film'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies, word choice errors, and awkward collocations throughout the essay. Examples include 'sorts types of entertainment' (redundancy), 'In my opionion' (spelling error), 'values terms' (incorrect collocation), 'makes things easiers' (grammatical/lexical slip), 'plays a crucial impact' (collocation error), and 'enjoying play online' (inappropriate word choice). While communication is not impeded, these frequent inaccuracies keep the lexical score at a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over clause structures through conditional and relative clauses, such as 'online browsing enables viewers to make choice of the content as per their taste.' Despite these efforts, the text contains a significant number of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('digital technology have made'), article misuse ('in theaters as reminiscence', 'to children account'), preposition errors ('going and watching in theaters'), and word form errors ('easiers', 'commutting'). These errors are frequent enough to cause occasional difficulty or distraction for the reader, aligning with the Band 5 descriptor.

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