Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Theatres and cinemas are equally important as watching entertainment online. Theatre and cinemas not only serve as places of entertainment but also as places of socialisation.

In today's world, everything is one tap away. From basic necessities to luxury items, it is all just a click away. People have been so occupied with their electronic devices, that nobody prefers talking to one another in person. After all, why travel 12 hours to see your friends when you can just facetime them?

Movies are a form of art and its true essence can be experienced only by buying a traditional ticket and sitting down in front of the big screen with a bag of popcorn.

My 10 year old cousin, has no idea how a theatre works. She grew up reading Agatha Cristie's books, but she had never experienced a theatre play. Last weekend, I managed to finally get her out of her room and off her tablet to go watch the play live at our local theatre. Initially, she was struggling to find it interesting, however as the play progressed, her enjoyment grew as well.

So I believe, a healthy balanced must be achieved between theatres and cinemas and consuming entertainment online.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You give a clear personal view that theatres and cinemas remain important, and the example of taking your cousin to a live play supports the cultural and experiential value of attending in person. However, the response does not adequately discuss both views: online entertainment is mentioned mainly as a cause of social isolation, with little consideration of its convenience or benefits, while the economic importance of venues is not addressed. The position that a balance is needed is relevant but is not explained in enough detail. The response is also 48 words below the required minimum, leaving limited space to develop the arguments. To strengthen the answer, explain each side, include an economic or cultural reason, and extend your examples with clear links to the question.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening position, paragraphs about digital habits and the experience of cinema, a personal example, and a concluding opinion. The cousin anecdote gives the essay a clear central illustration. However, the progression between points is not consistently logical. The paragraph about people being occupied with devices moves from online convenience to social isolation without clearly connecting this to the economic and cultural claims in the prompt. The transition from the general statement about movies to the personal theatre example could also be made more explicit. Cohesive phrases such as “After all” and “So” are understandable, but the conclusion arrives abruptly. Use topic sentences and linking explanations to show how each paragraph addresses one side of the discussion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary to communicate your ideas, including “socialisation,” “traditional ticket,” “essence,” and “balanced.” These choices help convey the contrast between online viewing and attending a venue, and the meaning remains clear throughout. There are also some imprecise or awkward expressions: “Theatre and cinemas” is inconsistent in number, “a healthy balanced must be achieved” is not a natural phrase, and “get her out of her room” is informal for an academic essay. “Facetime” would be better expressed as “video-call.” Aim for more precise language about the task, such as access, shared experience, cultural value, and local employment. Check spelling of names and use consistent forms when referring to theatres and cinemas.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, and several sentences are controlled, such as “After all, why travel 12 hours to see your friends when you can just facetime them?” and the sentence describing how your cousin’s enjoyment grew. Some grammatical errors remain, but they rarely prevent understanding. For example, “Movies are a form of art and its true essence” has a pronoun-agreement problem; “My 10 year old cousin, has” includes an unnecessary comma; and “a healthy balanced must be achieved” is missing a noun after “balanced.” The opening also shifts between singular and plural forms in “Theatres and cinemas are equally important as watching entertainment online.” Review agreement, sentence punctuation, and complete noun phrases, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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