Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-06

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)

When the topic of advertising is discussed, there are divided opinions. One group of people think that advertising is most successful at attracting people to purchase things. While other individuals believe that people need not pay attention to marketing strategies. Before giving my opinion both the views are discussed further.

Discussing the former view, advertisement inform people about new products. If product show on television, viewer can get details about particular item. Therefore, customers change their decisions while purchasing item at shopping mall. In addition, nowadays younger generation use social media application on smartphone. Since technology introduced, marketing field also flourish. Hence, in many application user get notify about many products and they decided to by items even if they do not need.

Talking about latter view, at the moment many advertisements are repetative shown on television and electronic devices. However, sometimes customers are being annoyed by seeing same things for a lot time. Hence, sometimes they skip on their electronic device. For example, electronic vehicle advertisement often shown youtube and many application. Consequently user skip this advertisement instantly. Furthermore, consumers ask friends or relative about product. Because they see more trust in asking other members rather than depend on advertisement. As a result, everyday watching advertisement is not necessary for all kind of people.

In conclusion, although advertisements are often repetative on electronic devices such as laptop, youtube and social media application, I believe that they are useful to share information about new products and details to the general people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding social media is brief, and the discussion on why people trust friends over advertisements could be more deeply explored. The essay covers all parts of the prompt, but the explanation of the 'persuasion' aspect is a bit superficial. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your points with more specific examples or deeper reasoning to ensure the response feels fully developed rather than just a summary of ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In addition', 'However', and 'Consequently' to link ideas. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly unnatural, such as starting sentences with 'Since technology introduced' or 'Talking about latter view'. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each sentence logically follows the previous one will help improve the overall cohesion of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'marketing strategies', 'electronic devices', and 'social media application'. However, there are several instances of word choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'marketing field also flourish' (should be 'has flourished') and 'repetative shown' (should be 'repeatedly shown'). The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, and you rely on basic phrasing. To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and ensure correct word forms are used.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Common issues include missing articles (e.g., 'If product show'), subject-verb agreement errors (e.g., 'advertisement inform'), and incorrect verb tenses (e.g., 'Since technology introduced'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to distract the reader. To achieve a higher score, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, particularly verb tense consistency and the correct use of articles, before attempting more complex structures.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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