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)
Advertisement and marketing works as one of the key factors while establishing a business and selling a product. Individuals may have different views on advertisements based on their personal interests and experiences.
Some people may find advertisements very successful in making people buy their stuff due to the fact that advertising a product helps them engage with their audience and letting them know about their latest products. In this way people come to know about a product and they may think of purchasing it if it comes in their interest. However,there are some drawbacks as well. This advertising may bother some people as well because sometimes we have to see a lot of ads for the products we have no interest in and that's quite frustrating.
On the other hand, some people think that advertising is of no use today because they are so common today that people don't pay any attention. This fact is also true to a great extent as most of the times the ads people have to watch are irrelevant to their interests. Consequently, they fail to grab their attention. But another fact is that we come to know about a lot products just by their advertisements. So we would've missed out on some of our favourite items if there were no ads.
Overall, I see that there is more of a positive side of the statement that marketing is very successful for a business. Although, it is very common and most of the people may ignore it but still you can manage to grab a lot of attention of your potential customers just with the help a healthy marketing campaign.
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. For instance, the argument regarding why ads are ignored is mentioned but not fully explored with specific examples or deeper analysis. The ideas are relevant but remain at a surface level, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. To improve, you should aim to provide more detailed explanations or real-world examples to support your claims, ensuring that the discussion is fully extended rather than just stated.
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 'However,' 'On the other hand,' and 'Consequently,' which help the flow. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be strengthened by using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that sentences are more tightly connected to the main topic of the paragraph.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on somewhat simple phrasing, such as 'buy their stuff' and 'no use today.' While these terms are understandable, they are not sophisticated. To improve, you should incorporate more academic and topic-specific vocabulary related to marketing and consumer behavior. There are no significant spelling errors, but the word choice is often generic, which limits your ability to express more nuanced ideas.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'Advertisement and marketing works' (subject-verb agreement) and 'letting them know' (parallelism issues). Punctuation is generally fine, though there is a missing space after the comma in 'However,there'. The majority of your sentences are error-free, but the range of complex structures is limited. Focusing on more varied sentence patterns and ensuring subject-verb agreement will help elevate your score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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