Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28

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 today's rapidly evolving world, entertainment has become an indispensable part of human lives, as it allows them to spend leisure time productively and efficiently. While a subtantial number of individuals assert that cinemas and theatres are not crucial, others contend that they still hold immense prominence for both economical and cultural purpose.

To begin, proponents emphasize the former view that the emergence of technology has enables multiple approaches of entertainment, which allow individuals to consume content at their own pace without moving anywhere. This is because, in recent years it has been observed that applications, zoom and other websites in mobile phones and laptops often afford individuals free content, encouraging them to alleviate their cost of commuting to go cinemas and pucrchase tickets. Therefore, movie halls and theatres are not as essential as they were in the past. Moreover, cinemas and ampitheatres telecast only movies. However, in contemporary society, psychological thrillers, drama serials and series have been hyped by young adults and women, which are not telecasted in cinemas. Therefore, online entertainment has proven to be advantageous approach for them. For instance, according to a survey conducted by the organisation called UET- Ubiquitous Entertainment Television, depicted a growing proportion of population among interviewed people stated watching movies on social media platforms an appealing and compelling approach.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses both views regarding the importance of theatres and cinemas in the digital age, as well as the transition into the student's perspective. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and truncated, stopping abruptly before a full conclusion can be presented. Furthermore, the response suffers from a significant drawback in length, as it contains only 217 words, falling short of the mandatory 250-word minimum. This negative impact on task completion pulls the score down, as the final opinion and summary are missing. While the arguments concerning online accessibility and changing entertainment preferences are relevant, they lack full elaboration and a fully realized personal stance, which restricts the overall effectiveness of the response against the official descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a basic organizational structure with an introductory paragraph presenting the topic and a second paragraph introducing the first viewpoint using cohesive phrases like 'To begin' and 'proponents emphasize the former view'. However, the progression of ideas is hindered because the essay cuts off prematurely, lacking a concluding paragraph altogether. Cohesive devices are used, but some transitions feel mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'This is because, in recent years it has been observed that...'. Paragraphing is partially utilized, but the division of the text is incomplete due to the missing conclusion. Overall, the coherence of the piece is affected by its unfinished state, placing it solidly in the mid-band range for this criterion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student attempts to use a range of vocabulary appropriate to the academic prompt, employing words such as 'indispensable', 'prominence', 'proponents', and 'contemporary'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('subtantial' for substantial, 'ampitheatres' for amphitheatres, 'pucrchase' for purchase) and slight lexical inaccuracies, such as 'economical and cultural purpose' instead of purposes, and 'telecasted' which is generally replaced by 'broadcast' or simply 'shown'. Despite these limitations, the vocabulary used is sufficient to convey meaning clearly, and attempts at less common lexical items show a commendable range, preventing a lower score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'entertainment has become an indispensable part of human lives, as it allows them to spend leisure time productively'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are noticeable errors such as 'technology has enables' (should be enable) and awkward prepositional phrases like 'approach of entertainment' instead of 'approaches to entertainment'. Punctuation errors are also present, including unnecessary commas and awkward phrasing in long, complex sentences. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur with enough frequency to prevent the essay from reaching higher grammar bands.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.