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)

Nowadays. people argue that importance of theatres and cinemas are not same as before due to digitization. Whereas, some people believe they play important role in culture and economy.

We live in a digital word as internet has made the world a global village. People are inter-link with eachother no matter in which country they are living. Everything is accessible to them on their digital devices so people are not interested as before. Specially, going out to watch something in theatre or cinema. For instance, people now have subscriptions of online streaming platforms only requiring a internet connection so they prefer to watch anything whenever they want to, in their own comfortzone and personal space so people don't feel the need of going out and watch something physically.

However, according to other perspective theatres and cinemas play crucial role in a country's economy and entertainment is a billion dollars industry representing different cultures all over the world. For example, whenever a drama or a movie is telecasted in theatres and cinemas it brings money through businesses and taxation, and if we want to learn anything about some country's customs and their society, we can simply watch their theatre shows and their movies.

To conclude, i would say people not visiting such places will increase in future as people are becoming more remote nowadays no matter how these things brings benefit to our culture

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both views: online streaming is presented as convenient and private, while cinemas and theatres are linked to employment, taxation, and cultural learning. Your conclusion also indicates that you expect attendance to decline. However, the discussion is brief and the economic and cultural points are asserted rather than explained with specific supporting detail. Your own opinion is not fully clear: the conclusion predicts a trend but does not directly say whether you believe theatres and cinemas remain important despite it. The response also falls 17 words short of the required minimum, limiting the space available to develop the arguments. State your position explicitly and extend each main point with a concrete example or explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to the case for online entertainment, then the opposing view, and finally a conclusion. Paragraphing helps distinguish the two sides, and signposts such as “However” and “To conclude” make the broad direction clear. At times, though, ideas are crowded into long sentences and the links between them are not always precise. The first body paragraph, for example, moves from global connectivity to streaming subscriptions and personal comfort without clearly separating the supporting points. The conclusion also ends abruptly, leaving the relationship between declining attendance and cultural benefits unclear. Use shorter, more controlled sentences and organise each paragraph around one central claim followed by its explanation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “online streaming platforms,” “personal space,” “crucial role,” and “taxation,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. There is also some attempt at topic-specific phrasing, such as describing entertainment as a “billion dollars industry.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or awkward, including “digital word,” “inter-link with eachother,” “comfortzone,” and “telecasted in theatres.” These errors make the expression less natural and sometimes require the reader to interpret the intended meaning. Aim for accurate, conventional combinations and check spelling and spacing. For example, “digital world,” “connected to each other,” “comfort of their own homes,” and “screened in cinemas” would express your ideas more clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “Whereas” and a conditional clause beginning “if we want to learn.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors occur in basic sentence patterns as well as longer sentences. Examples include “importance … are not same,” “people are inter-link,” and “a internet connection”; the final sentence also has agreement and sentence-structure problems in “how these things brings benefit.” Punctuation is sometimes faulty, as in “Nowadays.” followed by a new sentence fragment beginning “people argue.” These issues can make the reader pause to work out the intended meaning. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, and complete sentence construction, then proofread punctuation and verb forms.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.