Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-04
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)
The question of whether advertisements persuade us to buy things has long been a point of debate among people. While some argue that they don't have a significant impact. I am inclined to believe that advertising industry is extremely successful and has a profound impact on us today.
Proponents of the first view contend that advertisements have become so common nowadays that nobody pays attention to it. The rationale behind this is that everyone has a busy life. Consequently, people do not pay attention to countless ads they see in a day.
On the other hand, some people assert that the advertising industry is very powerful in manipulating consumer behavior. The celebrity culture promotes products. Industry hire celebrities and influencers for their sensational content to influence public opinion regarding liking or disliking a product. Recent data shows the massive increase in sales due to only one post/video by any famous celebrity or influencer. The prime example of this could be Korean BTS group as if they wore any product or talked about it for just few seconds, it went viral and sales increased sharply.
Another significant reason is the marketing strategies are based on working of human mind and behavior. For instance, ADs are put on big billboards at a busy signal so people can see it during long traffic jam. Another example could be ADs during any famous drama/ movie or sports event. Thus, people can't skip it and it results in getting more attention.
In conclusion, the AD industry achieve their goals such as more sales and business thrive but it has detrimental long-term effects on humans. Therefore, integrated measures are required to achieve meaningful improvements. There should be government policies and awareness campaigns regarding massive advertisement affecting human mind.
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. The ideas are relevant, such as the influence of celebrity culture and the strategic placement of advertisements. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The second body paragraph is well-supported with the BTS example, but the first body paragraph is quite brief and could have been expanded with more depth regarding why people ignore ads. The conclusion introduces a new point about 'detrimental long-term effects' and 'government policies' which was not discussed in the body paragraphs, making the conclusion feel slightly disconnected from the preceding arguments. Overall, the task is addressed, but the development of ideas could be more balanced.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the other hand', 'Consequently', and 'For instance', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing. For example, in the first paragraph, 'it' refers to 'advertisements' (plural), which is a grammatical mismatch. The progression of ideas is generally clear, but the link between the body paragraphs and the final conclusion could be smoother to ensure a more cohesive flow of the argument.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. You use some topic-specific terms like 'manipulating consumer behavior', 'celebrity culture', and 'marketing strategies'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For instance, 'Industry hire celebrities' should be 'Industries hire' or 'The industry hires'. Additionally, 'ADs' is an informal abbreviation that should be avoided in formal academic writing; 'advertisements' is preferred. The range is sufficient to convey your meaning, but more precise and varied vocabulary would elevate the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'advertisements have become so common nowadays that nobody pays attention to it' (should be 'them'), 'if they wore any product' (should be 'if they wear'), and 'AD industry achieve their goals' (should be 'achieves'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some sentence fragments, such as 'While some argue that they don't have a significant impact.' which should be connected to the following sentence. These errors do not impede communication but occur frequently enough to limit the score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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