Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-28

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 say that in the digital age, theatres and cinemas are no longer imporatnt as people can watch all the entertainment they want online. But rest of the people argue that theaters and cinemas are still important for both economically purpose and culturally values. But in my point of view, theaters and cinemas are no longer imporatnt, as we can see all the entertainment online easily only in one-click.

The people who are still going to cinemas, they need lots of preparations before going there like they need to put on new dress, they need a transport to travel back and forth from cinema and theatres and the most imporatant they need some extra time. For instance, one day, my family had decided to watch a movie in theatre room. The theatre was 5km away from our current house and because all of my family (5 members) was going there, so we had to arrange a cab which cost us some extra wages. When we reached at theatre, we paid for entry ticket which costs us Rs 50 per head. We also boought some snacks, cold drinks and popcorns. After an hour, when the movie ended, we took another cab to return back. The experience was good, it gave us a lots of memories and we enjoyed the movie more while sitting in the theatre but it still costs us more and wasted our lot of time during our journey.

On the other hand, the people who watch online movies, they do not need extra preparations, they do not need to wear new clothes, they do not need to spend extra money on tickets and cab fairs and they can even save time. Moreover, they will get lots of other options of movies to watch, rather than watching a fix movie. If they do not enjoy the first movie then they can switched to another channel to watch next movie.

By discussing all above, pros and cons of both digital media and cinemas, we can conclude that, no doubt, cinemas and theatres are important economically and culturally, but digital media is more suitable and comfortable in the current time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall preference for online entertainment, and the personal cinema visit provides relevant support for the costs and effort involved. You also acknowledge the opposing view in the introduction and conclusion. However, the discussion does not fully address the specific claim that theatres and cinemas remain important economically and culturally: these points are asserted but not explained with examples or reasons. Most of the body focuses on convenience and expense, so the two views are not developed evenly, and the conclusion’s concession is not reconciled with your preference. To strengthen the response, explain how cinemas contribute to jobs or local economies and how shared viewing supports cultural life, then show why online access still matters more to you. (The response meets the stated length requirement; 24 words copied from the prompt were not counted.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph about attending cinemas, a paragraph about online viewing, and a conclusion. The family anecdote also gives the first body paragraph a clear focus. However, progression is limited because the essay mainly lists advantages and disadvantages rather than developing the two views in a balanced sequence. Repeated openings such as “they need” and “they do not need” make the cohesion mechanical, while “By discussing all above” does not clearly connect the conclusion to the argument. Some references, including “the people” and “it,” are vague. Use topic sentences that identify each side’s central argument, link examples explicitly to that argument, and vary cohesive devices and sentence openings.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “entertainment,” “entry ticket,” “snacks,” and “options of movies.” The personal example also gives you opportunities to describe practical costs and experiences. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, such as “extra wages,” “cab fairs,” “fix movie,” and “one-click.” Spelling errors such as “imporatnt” and “boought” are noticeable, and repeated use of “extra” and “important” reduces precision. Aim for more accurate expressions for transport costs, a predetermined film, and the convenience of streaming. Proofreading spelling and choosing natural collocations would make your meaning clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “If they do not enjoy the first movie then they can switched to another channel.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some passages less smooth. For example, “The people who are still going to cinemas, they need” has an unnecessary repeated subject, while “they can switched” uses the wrong verb form. There are also problems with agreement and sentence construction in “theatre was 5km away … and because all of my family … was going there, so we had to arrange.” Work on forming clauses without duplicated subjects, matching verbs to subjects, and using the base verb after “can.” Check punctuation around introductory phrases and long sentences as well.

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.