Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-03
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people say that advertising is extremely successful at persuading us to buy things. Other people think that advertising is so common that we no longer pay attention to it. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
I agree with both of the contradictory statements above. Let’s start by understanding the meaning of advertising. Advertising is the process of persuading people or consumers to buy products through an identified sponsor. Identify sponsor can be any type of media like newspaper, television, radio etc.
Advertising is very useful in attracting customers. There are many type of advertising like word of mouth advertising, shadow advertising etc. Nowadays, digital and video ads are very much popular and pretty much successful in attracting the attention of consumers. For example- ads in between videos on youtube, television ads, pop up ads, ads on social media apps like snapchat or instagram are successful. These advertising tactics directly have favourable business impact on minds of targeted population.
On the other hand some people think that advertisements are common. To some extent this view is also true, as we know there is too much competition in market. For the same thing there are tens of sellers. This also leads to creating same kind of advertisements. Watching same type of advertisements again and again makes consumers confused and they start ignoring it. It becomes boring and repetitive which annoys people.
According to my opinion, advertising is necessary for businesses to attract market for their product.
Unique ideas or out of the box advertising is necessary which can provide competitive edge to businesses. Boring or repetitive advertising just increases expenditure in the budget and are least attractive because people often skip those type of promotions.
In the conclusion I would like to highlight that advertising is very much important for businesses to grow. There are many choices like advertisements, sales promotions, public relations, etc. A good marketing department is needed to make advertising effective.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention that advertising is successful and that it can be ignored, the arguments lack depth and specific examples of 'why' or 'how' beyond general statements. The introduction is slightly repetitive, and the definition of advertising is unnecessary for an IELTS essay, which should focus on the prompt's arguments. To reach a higher band, ensure each paragraph provides a more detailed explanation or a more concrete real-world example to support your claims, rather than just stating that ads are 'popular' or 'annoying'.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Phrases like 'Let’s start by', 'On the other hand', and 'In the conclusion' are functional but basic. There is a lack of sophisticated linking words to connect ideas within paragraphs. For instance, the transition between the definition of advertising and the discussion of its effectiveness is abrupt. Improving the flow between sentences using a wider variety of cohesive devices would significantly enhance the coherence of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'competitive edge', 'targeted population', and 'expenditure'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'Identify sponsor can be any type of media' (should be 'An identified sponsor') and 'attract market for their product' (should be 'attract a market' or 'reach a target audience'). Some phrasing is also quite simplistic, such as 'For the same thing there are tens of sellers'. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the'/'a'), pluralisation, and subject-verb agreement, such as 'There are many type of advertising' (should be 'types') and 'Watching same type of advertisements' (should be 'Watching the same type'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of hyphens in 'out of the box' and the lack of proper sentence structure in the introduction. A greater focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would help elevate your score.
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