Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Unquestionably, every coin has two sides and so are the people. Society's people are divides into two groups and therefore, existence of cinema and theatres in the digital age has become a topic of debate among people. This essay will compare and contrast both of the opinions along with my opinion.

Initiating with the points supporting first school of thought, firstly, 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.The people who support this say that it is the era of technology and people can easily entertain at home with their devices like mobile phones and computers. They can watch same movie on laptop or mobile with the help of different platforms like ott, jio hotstar and netflix. There is no need to sgo cinemas and pay extra. Secondly, internet allows people to watch any movie they want. Whereas, there are selective options with cinema. As a consequence, people says that theatres and cinemas are no longer important for entertainment purpose.

On its constrasting side, people who held another view point say that theatres and cinemas are still important both economically and culturally. They believe that we should go to cinemas to watch movies instead of watching at home on internet because buying a ticket for a movie is still better then purchasing subscription of platforms and even not utilizing it. Furthermore, going outside with family for movies is also a different experience in itself.

In conclusion, i would like to say that, watching movies in cinemas is still better option because it allows people to get many different options of entertainment like going outside and spending time with family.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You discuss both views and state a preference for cinema-going in the conclusion, so the response addresses the main parts of the prompt. The online-entertainment side has relevant reasons—watching at home on devices, access to a wider selection, and avoiding extra costs. However, the opposing view is less fully explained: the economic and cultural importance named in the question is not really developed, and the ticket-versus-subscription comparison is unclear. Your own position is also supported mainly by the family outing experience, without explaining its wider value. Develop each side with specific examples and make your opinion clear throughout, rather than relying on a brief concluding statement. (The 36 words copied from the task prompt were not counted.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable introduction, two body paragraphs presenting opposing views, and a conclusion. This gives the reader a basic structure, and signposts such as “On its contrasting side” help indicate a change of viewpoint. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical: “firstly” and “secondly” introduce points, but the links between them and their explanations are limited. The contrast paragraph also moves from economic value to family experience without clearly connecting these ideas to the stated cultural and economic importance. Some transitions, including “Whereas,” do not form a clear connection to the preceding sentence. Organise each paragraph around a central claim, then explain and illustrate it, using referencing and transitions more precisely.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “digital age,” “platforms,” “subscription,” and “different experience.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “school of thought” and “as a consequence.” However, the range is limited and several choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. Examples include “Society’s people,” “held another view point,” and “entertain at home”; “sgo” and “constrasting” also show spelling errors. Repeated use of “people,” “watch,” and “important” limits precision. Build a more accurate range of expressions for access, cost, cultural value, and shared experiences, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “people can watch all the entertainment they want online” and a contrast introduced by “because.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors occur in basic sentence patterns as well as longer constructions. For example, “Society’s people are divides” has an incorrect verb form, while “people says” shows subject–verb disagreement. In “there are selective options with cinema,” the article and sentence structure are not controlled, and “watching movies in cinemas is still better option” is missing an article. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, particularly “i” and the missing space after “online.” Practise accurate agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries before adding more complex structures.

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