Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-01

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 6.5)

There is considerable debate over whether theatres and cinemas are still necessary to watch movies. Although streaming platforms provide cheaper subscriptions and have wide range of contents to watch, cinemas provide experience instead of just watching a movie. In addition, being one of the oldest form of entertainment, theatres and cinemas have sentimental values to different cultures and people. Therefore, I largely agree that theatres and cinemas are necessary particularly for socio-economic and cultural values.

Nowadays, online streaming platforms are increasingly becoming popular particularly because of convenience in watching any content, while at home. Moreover, the cheaper subscription cost in along with wide variety of content, in a single place, adds more value to streaming platforms. However, not all movies are available in all platforms. Therefore, to have the flexibility to watch any new movies at any time, a person may need to purchase subscription to a number of platforms which can surpass the cost to watch the movie in cinemas. Despite the facility to watch movies at home, with friends and family, it limits the exposure to watch the movie as a society, reducing social gatherings.

On the other hand, cinemas and thetres enables hundreds of people to join together to enjoy a movie together. Although the ticket price currently is considerable costly than subscription to a online platform, cinemas nowadays have technology to not only watch the movie but also experience each scene of it. For example, IMAX, Infinity vision, 3D, AR, and Dolby sound takes a person in the middle of the scene and let them experience it. Finally the gossip after watching the movie in the hallway and streets, make a place of celebration. From the production point of view, movies released on cinemas are earning billions of dollar and making the produces confident to invest more. As a result, the experience as a audience is increasingly becoming better and better.

In conclusion, online streaming platforms are stream-lining the entertainment world with cheaper price and diverse content whereas cinemas and theatres provide experiences that is unmatched to anything. Therefore, I largely agree that cinemas and theatres are important than ever to enjoy and experience movies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the perspective that cinemas are no longer important due to online streaming and the counterargument that they remain economically and culturally vital. The student clearly states their own position right from the introductory paragraph and maintains it consistently throughout the essay. Main ideas are extended and supported well, such as when comparing the cumulative cost of multiple subscriptions with cinema tickets, or highlighting technological advancements like IMAX and 3D. However, there is a slight tendency to over-generalise in parts, such as the claim that streaming limits social gatherings entirely, and certain points like the economic impact on producers could be further extended to reach the next level of fully developed depth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, moving smoothly from the introduction to the discussion of streaming platforms, then to the benefits of traditional cinemas, and finally concluding with a restated position. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to guide the reader, such as 'Although', 'In addition', and 'On the other hand'. While referencing and paragraphing are generally managed effectively, a few transitional links feel slightly mechanical, and occasional referencing slips prevent the essay from achieving a fully seamless flow. Overall, the structure is coherent and easy to follow from start to finish.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing sufficient range to discuss entertainment and economics with some flexibility. The student successfully attempts less common vocabulary items such as 'sentimental values', 'flexibility', and 'technological advancements'. However, there are notable word choice, collocation, and word form errors that occasionally disrupt precision, such as writing 'oldest form' instead of 'oldest forms', 'in along with' instead of 'along with', 'considerable costly' instead of 'considerably more costly', and 'produces' instead of 'producers'. Spelling is generally accurate, but these lexical inaccuracies restrict the score to this level, showing that greater precision and control over less common phrasing are needed.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The student displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures reasonably well. There are several error-free sentences, demonstrating a fair command of sentence architecture. Nevertheless, a number of grammatical errors persist, particularly with articles, prepositions, and plurals. Examples include 'have wide range' missing the article 'a', 'content' used incorrectly as a plural countable noun in 'contents', 'in cinemas' versus 'on cinemas', and subject-verb agreement issues such as 'cinemas and thetres enables'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but these recurrent grammatical slips mean that communication is occasionally hindered, placing the grammar performance firmly at this band.

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