Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-19

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In the future nobody will buy printed newspapers or books because they will be able to read everything they want online without paying. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In the contemporary era, many people believe that in the long run barely any body will show their interest on buying books, as every books is becoming available on the internet. While others believe that it won't happen. Actually it varies from person to person. This essay will discuss both perspectives before giving my own stance. However, i strongly believe that there is a high chance of extinction of physical book in the era of AI.

On the one hand, some people firmly believe that a person who is interested to read books they will find a way to read physical books. Because. it gives them a sense of full-fillment after finishing a book. For example many of my friends still carry a book whenever they travel to one place to another place. According to them printing books allow them to identify the writers core idea easily, at the same time it also helps to imagine to those story lines in their hand.

Going to the second school of thought , many people including me would like to say that because of the availability of internet books library, it's not necessary to buy physical books. Rather, it helps to save money & time. The most scariest thing is the thriving rise of AI , especially their ability to scan a book with a couple of minutes. Now a days what AI companies are doing is that they scan book then cuts the book into pieces, so that in the long a run there must be crisis of physical books, then people have to buy books from them. Additionally, social media platforms are becoming the main sources of news, people don't find it to useful to wait for a news till the next morning. Hence, our attention spans become more shorter than ever in history of human.

After discussing both perspectives i would like to state that they way AI companies are destroying the physical copies of books , there must be a shortage of printed books, and people are not patient enough to wait for a news paper for a long period of time. Also, the authenticity of crosschecking a news in not possible by printed news paper.

To sum up, i am totally agree with the notion that in near future printed newspapers and books will be unavailabe.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the future of printed media and providing a clear personal stance. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. The argument regarding AI companies scanning books is speculative and lacks logical clarity, which weakens the overall persuasiveness of the essay. While the position is consistent, the supporting arguments in the second body paragraph are slightly tangential and could have been more focused on the core issue of digital versus physical media consumption. To reach a higher band, ensure that all arguments directly support the prompt's premise rather than introducing complex, unsubstantiated claims about AI business practices.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the one hand' and 'To sum up', though some transitions feel mechanical or slightly forced. The use of referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the connection between the 'second school of thought' and the subsequent points about AI could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different viewpoints, which helps the reader follow the argument, but the internal flow within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'contemporary era' and 'notion', which are used correctly. However, there are instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'the most scariest thing' (a double superlative) and 'more shorter'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the range and precision of the language. Expanding the range of collocations and refining the use of comparative structures would help improve the score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the student attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('every books is becoming') and article usage. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary periods used as sentence breaks (e.g., 'Because. it gives...'). While these errors rarely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed correctly would significantly enhance the quality of the writing.

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.