Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-26

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 future people will not buy hardcopy of newspapers or books because they will be able to read everything they want online free of cost. I believe it is really hard to focus on screen for longe news and books reading, and we cannot find everything online without paying.

First of all, reading online can harm human health such as it effects our eyes and can disturb the mental health. Spending to much time on technical devices can lead to serious problems. For example, long hours while reading online can frastrate a person.

Secondly, it is wrong perception of individuals they can find data online without any cost. Since we pay in physical shops in the same way online stores demand payments for the premium books and for other items too. For instance, if a online store offering many additions of a book, the old addition may be free to download but the recent releases are unavailable without cost. Similarly, the news headlines may be available free of charge but for the detailed news you have to buy a package.

Admittidly, online platforms provide too much material free and the technical devices are more convinent for storing and reading books but it cannot fully replace the physical material because different people have different financial and heatlth conditions and they go for an option in which they feel comfortable. It is a wrong believe online data is completely free and everyone is able to read online.

To sum up, long hours while reading online can have negative impact on human being and we must have to pay some charges even for online data.

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the future of printed media and the issue of cost. You clearly state your disagreement with the premise. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention health concerns and the reality of paid online content, the arguments could be more deeply explored with more specific examples or broader societal context. The conclusion effectively summarizes your position, but the overall development remains at a basic level, often relying on generalizations rather than a nuanced analysis of digital trends.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'First of all', 'Secondly', and 'To sum up' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the use of referencing is occasionally repetitive. For instance, the transition between the health argument and the cost argument is functional but lacks sophisticated linking. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, though the logical links could be more varied to improve the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on common terms like 'hardcopy', 'technical devices', and 'wrong perception'. There are several spelling errors, such as 'longe' instead of 'long', 'frastrate' instead of 'frustrate', 'Admittidly' instead of 'Admittedly', and 'convinent' instead of 'convenient'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the score. To reach a higher band, you should aim to incorporate more academic collocations and precise terminology related to digital media and economic models.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, they are frequently marred by grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'it effects our eyes' (should be 'affects') and 'it is wrong perception of individuals they can find' (missing 'that'). There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of errors in basic grammar and punctuation prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. You should focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to improve accuracy.

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.