Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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)

Some people are in favour of importance of theaters and cinemas while other argue that online entertainment has surpassed the need of theater and cinemas. I vouch for the second group of people claiming that cinemas are not needed these days.

Firstly, the people who claim that the need of cinemas and theaters is inevitable, say that it is the cost effective mode of entertainment. They believe that if someone has no access to the mobile phone or the laptop, can easily watch films or other entertaining shows in cinemas. Instead of buying expensive gadgets, they could easily have entertainment with friends in the cinemas. To add more, they also argue that theaters are a source of watching live performances which cannot be enjoyed on mobile phones or computers.

However, the other group of people believe that cinemas and theaters are not needed in the modern era of technology. The top most reason is that you are not bounded by the time. For instance, you can watch any type of the show online whenever you have time. On the contrary, you have to adjust your routine merely for the entertainment. Meanwhile, they also support this statement by claiming that you can only watch movies or films in the cinemas. Other types of entertainment are not available and you are supposed to watch whatever is in the watchlist. Conversely, on the mobile phones or other digital gadgets you can enjoy documentary, funny shows and many more according to your mood.

All in all, both of the views has some merits and demerits. However from my perspective, I belive that in this era of technology and growing world theaters and the cinemas are not much needed as before.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on cinemas and theatres and providing a clear personal opinion. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack extension. For instance, the discussion regarding the economic and cultural aspects mentioned in the prompt is only superficially covered by touching on live performances, rather than fully exploring the broader implications. The student's position is clearly stated in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion, but the arguments remain somewhat limited, preventing the response from reaching a higher level of task completion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, using introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs appropriately. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'Firstly,' 'However,' and 'On the contrary.' However, some cohesion is a little mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun use in 'if someone has no access to the mobile phone or the laptop, can easily watch films.' While the progression of ideas is generally clear, these minor lapses prevent the organizational flow from being truly seamless.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic arguments about digital entertainment versus cinemas. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary and phrases, such as 'inevitable,' 'cost effective mode,' and 'modern era of technology,' but these are sometimes accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'the people who claim that the need of cinemas and theaters is inevitable' and 'you are not bounded by the time.' Spelling and word formation are generally accurate, and errors do not impede communication, placing the response securely in this category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, there are noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, such as missing articles ('access to the mobile phone'), incorrect prepositions ('in cinemas' instead of 'at the cinemas'), and subject-verb agreement issues like 'both of the views has some merits.' Although these errors persist, they rarely impede overall communication, and the sentence structures, while containing frequent slips, remain largely comprehensible.

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