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)

In recent years, the question of whether heatres and cinemas are no longer important as people can watch all the entertainment they want online has become a significant debate. While some people argue that theatres and cinemas are still important. This essay will discuss both views and explain my opinion.

On the one hand, there are numerous reasons that theatres and cinemas are no longer important. Most importantly, watching online is far more convenient than go to thearther and watch. As it saves both time and money. For instance, youtube provides all types of videos free of cost, like educational related videos, students can learn new technology or skill from youtube as many certifited traniners upload their content there. Furthermore, you don't want to go anywhere, you can watch any video from internet at any place, like a disabled person, which may has faced lost of difficulties to go to cinema and than watch movies, he can easily watch and enjoy movies at his place easily. Thus, these reasons are contributed for declining the importance of cinemas and theatres.

Howere, there are also numerous reasons that theatres and cinemas are still impotant. Most importantly, they help economically. For example, on the release of new movie, these cinamas houses earn a lo of money and eventually this money contributes in countrys' economy, as cinamas has to pay a significant tax to government. Futhermore, it has a sentimental values in some socities. Like, in Pakistan, these theatres have a significant values as they came from their ancestors. Therefore, there entities will remain important.

Taking these all factors, although watching online provides more convenience, I contend that theatres and cinemas are still important as people are sentimentally attached with them and they also play an important role in country's economy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the decline of physical cinemas and their ongoing economic and cultural importance, while also stating a clear personal position in the introduction and conclusion. However, the development of ideas is uneven. While the arguments regarding online convenience and economic contributions are relevant, some points are under-developed or drift off-topic, such as discussing educational YouTube videos and general skills learning, which do not directly pertain to theatrical or cinematic entertainment. Furthermore, 24 words copied directly from the prompt were excluded from the word count, though the text still successfully met the minimum length requirement overall. To reach a higher band, all main ideas should remain tightly focused on the prompt's specific themes without straying into unrelated digital content like online education.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the contrasting views effectively. Nevertheless, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is occasionally unclear. For instance, the second sentence of the introduction is fragmented ('While some people argue that theatres and cinemas are still important. This essay will...'), which disrupts the flow. Additionally, cohesive devices and transition markers such as 'Howere' and 'Futhermore' are used rigidly, and the logical progression within paragraphs is occasionally hindered by abrupt shifts in examples, such as moving from box-office revenue to ancestral heritage in the third body paragraph. Improving the fluidity of transitions and ensuring all sentences connect smoothly would enhance cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'significant debate', 'sentimental values', and 'economy'. However, the vocabulary is hindered by noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling. Examples include typos and incorrect forms like 'heatres' instead of theatres, 'thearther' instead of theatre, 'Howere' instead of however, 'impotant' instead of important, 'cinamas' instead of cinemas, and 'countrys' instead of countries'. Furthermore, phrasing such as 'these cinamas houses earn a lo of money' demonstrates limited precision. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips occur frequently throughout the response, restricting the score to this band level. Incorporating accurate less-common vocabulary and proofreading for spelling mistakes would significantly elevate the lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use relative clauses and conditional structures. However, the grammatical range is limited, and there are frequent errors in sentence structure, article usage, and prepositions. For example, the sentence starting with 'Most importantly, watching online is far more convenient than go to thearther...' contains incorrect verb forms ('go' instead of going) and missing articles. Other errors include fragments, run-on tendencies, and prepositional mistakes such as 'at any place' and 'from internet'. Sentences like 'like a disabled person, which may has faced lost of difficulties...' show faulty relative pronoun usage and tense agreement. While these errors rarely completely obscure the core message, their frequency across complex structures prevents the writing from achieving a higher band.

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