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)
Advertising plays an essential role in spreading awareness and also attracts people's attention towards the products or services. Some people believe that advertising can easily influence people to buy things, while other thinks that it is very common nowadays, so they don't usually focus on them. This essay will discuss both viewpoints before giving my personal opinion in the conclusion.
To commence with, advertising's primary goal is to attract numerous people and influence them to make an impulse purchase, through creative displays, attractive and bold headlines and engaging features. To illustrate, any chocolate brand that appear on television attracts children easily as they are the ones the advertising is made for and its features and story telling is so attractive that children would buy those chocolates.
On the contrary, other believes that the advertising nowadays are been used everywhere that its importance lacks people's attention span, mainly because it attracts non-potential buyer of the particular product or services. Also, there are a very advertisements that promote false and negative things, which leads to people's distrust. To exemplify, companies claim things that are misleading and false, which leads to individuals avoiding such advertisements and also things which they are less concerned about which helps an individual avoid such ads.
In the conclusion, advertisements can foster people to make a purchase through attractive and creative ads while there are a few advertisements that doesn't attract and engage people due to the fact that they are not for their use or claim false promises.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The essay addresses both viewpoints and provides a personal opinion, meeting the basic requirements of the prompt. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, the argument regarding why people ignore advertisements is limited to 'non-potential buyers' and 'false promises,' which could be expanded with more depth. The conclusion is also quite brief and does not fully synthesize the arguments presented. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more nuanced explanations and ensure your personal opinion is more clearly integrated throughout the essay rather than just mentioned in the introduction and conclusion.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To commence with,' 'On the contrary,' and 'In the conclusion' to signal the structure. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where 'its features' refers back to 'any chocolate brand' rather than the advertising itself. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer to their antecedents would enhance the flow of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'impulse purchase,' 'potential buyer,' and 'distrust.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'foster people to make a purchase' (encourage/persuade would be more natural) and 'there are a very advertisements' (a grammatical error that also affects lexical precision). You rely on some repetitive phrasing, such as 'attract' and 'advertising,' which limits the sophistication of your expression. Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise synonyms would help improve your score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that detract from the quality of the writing. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('other thinks,' 'other believes,' 'advertisements that doesn't'), incorrect verb forms ('are been used'), and missing articles. These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your main points. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring consistent verb tense usage throughout your paragraphs.
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