Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22

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 5.0)

One of the main reasons is that online books provide a wide range of knowledge and information about education skills and other technological points. For example, students can gather information through internet and Google Scholar. They can easily conduct their experiments and also complete their research projects with the help of articles and documentaries. Another reason is that it makes people's life convenient and affordable. The reason is that they can save a considerable amount of time that will be used on another purpose. They prefer to read books or newspaper online rather than buying from market. For example, many people, especially youngsters, prefer to read or listen news through YouTube channels and television. Another foremost reason is that it provides accessibility. People may have ability to access all kinds of information on internet. In addition, some books may not be available in market in small towns, so that they may spend a lot of time and money to purchase them from big cities. The disagree point is that reading online newspaper or books may affect on eyesight. For example, many youngsters, especially children, spend a lot of time in playing games and watching movies, which may face the serious health issues in future.

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 250 words, containing only 204 words, which significantly impacts task completion. While the writer attempts to address both sides of the prompt by discussing the benefits of online materials and introducing a counterpoint regarding eyesight, the position is not fully clear or well-developed. The ideas presented are somewhat repetitive and lack sufficient extension. For instance, the discussion on accessibility and convenience tends to generalise without robust supporting evidence or deep elaboration. Consequently, this falls into the Band 5 descriptor due to the under-length nature of the response and limited development of ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates some organisation, but it lacks clear overall progression and suffers from poor paragraphing. The entire response is clumped together into one block of text rather than being structured into a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are often repetitive or mechanical, relying heavily on phrases like 'Another reason is that' and 'For example'. Referencing can also be unclear at times, such as the sudden transition into 'The disagree point is that'. Overall, these structural and cohesive flaws place the response securely at Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task. Words such as 'convenient', 'affordable', and 'accessibility' demonstrate a basic attempt to address the topic. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'technological points', 'listen news', and 'playing games and watching movies, which may face the serious health issues'. Furthermore, repetition of words like 'information', 'books', and 'reason' restricts the lexical range, justifying a Band 5 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but many of the complex forms contain errors or awkward phrasing, such as 'that will be used on another purpose' and 'so that they may spend a lot of time and money'. There are also grammatical inaccuracies regarding prepositions and verb forms, such as 'affect on eyesight' and 'spend a lot of time in playing'. While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, their frequency causes some difficulty for the reader and points to Band 5 performance.

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

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