Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-17
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)
The aspect that people replacing physical newspapers with their online counterparts is largely agreed upon a deeper level. Several aspects influencing this action can be discussed.
Firstly, Most people from varying age groups have many ways of accessing the internet. This includes a broad range of tools, from phones and tablets, to laptops and E-Book readers. By surfing the internet, they are exposing themselves, dileberately or inadvertantly, to online articles. These articles can appear through links from advertisements, or available directly on the official site of companies publishing them. Such examples include: the New York Times, Reuters, Le Parisien, and other famous sites.
In addition to this, most search engine apps for mobile such as "Google" have a dedicated section displaying various news articles from different domains. They are displayed as lists to swipe down. this section comes integrated by default on most smartphones, and many people who accidentally swipe to this section, end up spending time reading news articles.
Furthermore, the further decline of older age groups, who were born in the pre-internet era, along with the rise of the first digitally-native generation, makies the physical copies of newspapers become less appealing and less known to the general public. This cultural shift will be carried out to the upcoming generations as well.The digital world is becoming the new home for these generations, effectively marking the end of the analog era of things, including post letters and physical newspapers.
In conclusion, as the world is becoming more digitalized day by day, many things that people used to do in the past, either get replaced, modernized, or cease to exist altogether, including printed newspapers.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses the prompt by discussing the shift from physical to online media and whether it will happen without payment. A clear position is established that people are indeed replacing physical newspapers with online versions, though the prompt's condition regarding 'without paying' is only partially addressed in the opening and conclusion rather than deeply explored throughout the body paragraphs. Ideas are relevant, noting accessibility through mobile devices and search engines like Google, as well as generational shifts. However, some arguments tend to over-generalise or remain slightly under-developed, particularly regarding the economic aspect of free content. This corresponds to the Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, distinct body paragraphs utilising transition markers such as 'Firstly', 'In addition to this', and 'Furthermore', and a concluding paragraph. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately. However, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and some cohesive devices feel slightly mechanical or formulaic ('The aspect that people replacing physical newspapers... is largely agreed upon'). Progression is generally logical, leading the reader effectively through the student's arguments, satisfying the criteria for a solid Band 6.5 or Band 7, with clear logical organisation throughout.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'digitally-native generation', 'analog era', and 'counterparts'. There are, however, occasional word-choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'dileberately' instead of deliberately, 'inadvertantly' instead of inadvertently, and 'makies' instead of makes. These lexical errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the response from achieving a higher band. The overall lexical control is sufficient for the task and aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied structures such as 'By surfing the internet, they are exposing themselves...' and 'Furthermore, the further decline of older age groups... makes the physical copies... become less appealing.' There are several grammatical errors and typos present, including subject-verb agreement issues ('makies the physical copies... become') and awkward phrasing in the introductory sentence ('The aspect that people replacing physical...'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, though there are minor spacing errors. These errors rarely impede communication, placing the response firmly in the Band 6 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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