Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-04

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)

There has been a growing tendancy among the public to read everything online from the past 20 years.While a small minority of people still stick to reading printed papers most of them have adapted to reading content online.I personally agree completely to the fact that in the future nobody will be willing to buy printed newspapers.

One of the main reasons why most people prefer to read everything online is that it is easy to read as they can overcome the difficulty in carrying newspapers.Moreover, what you read online can be curated to your personal likings and prefence while this option is unavailable in printed magazines or newspapers.Additionally you can view important news online without the hassle of reading everything.For example I normally view sports news in the morning and i can customize my phone to display only sports news.

Another major reason is that people are being increasingly accustomed to viewing screens to the point that they spend more than half of their time on technological gadgets.So the next generation of people consume most of their content online in the form of videos and audio content.So news agencies must find ways to cater to their new audience or else there will be a lot of untapped customers in the future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is clear: you state that you “agree completely” that people will stop buying printed newspapers, and you give relevant reasons about convenience, personalised content and changing screen habits. However, the response addresses the prompt only partially. It focuses mainly on newspapers and does not explain whether printed books will also disappear, or directly examine the claim that online reading will be free. The example about viewing sports news supports personalisation, but the other points—such as people spending time on gadgets—need fuller explanation and evidence. The response is also 39 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop these ideas. Address every part of the statement and extend each main point with explanation or a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction states your view, followed by two paragraphs presenting reasons. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Additionally” and “Another major reason” help signal the progression. The sports-news example is placed appropriately after the point about customised content. However, some connections are mechanical, and the second body paragraph moves quickly from screen use to the next generation and then to news agencies without fully showing how each idea leads to the next. The conclusion is also absent, so the essay ends abruptly. Use clearer links between claims and their consequences, and add a brief concluding paragraph that restates your position and summarises the main reasons.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including phrases such as “customize my phone,” “technological gadgets” and “untapped customers.” There are also attempts to express distinctions, for example between printed and online content. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “tendancy,” “personal likings,” “view important news” and “adapted to reading content online.” Spelling errors such as “prefence” and inconsistent capitalisation also reduce accuracy. Repetition of “online,” “read” and “people” limits the range. Aim for more precise academic phrasing and check spelling; for instance, describe readers as “switching to digital content” and say that content can be “tailored to individual preferences.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause in “what you read online can be curated” and a conditional structure in “or else there will be…” The main meaning is generally understandable. Some grammatical and punctuation errors remain, however. The opening has no space after the full stop, and several sentences run together without appropriate punctuation. In “I personally agree completely to the fact,” the preposition pattern is incorrect; use “agree completely with the view.” The sentence beginning “For example I normally…” also needs a comma after the introductory phrase and a capital letter for “I.” Practise accurate sentence boundaries and review prepositions and punctuation while retaining your attempts at longer structures.

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