Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-10
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)
Nowadays, there is an ongoing debate about whether advertising is successful or it is a waste of money. In my opinion advertising is the most important step when you run your own business. This essay will discuss both points of view and my own opinion.
On one hand, advertisement helps the owner to bring people to buy his product, but it's not easy to make it so he needs a marketing team that will help him make ads that meets people thinking and persuade them to buy from your product. When you make a good thinking ads your business not only will grow bigger but also will increase your profit . One of the main advantages of advertising is social media because who doesn't use social media these days, you can make an ad cooperating with Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok which will help you so much with your business.
On the other hand, people who are saying advertisement is no longer noticeable they are the same people who use social media daily and watch ads. They might think that ads are boring because of these ads but they cannot say that it is not important, as you see when they watch ads they may be persuaded to buy something they don't even need, but they just want people to lose their businesses.
In conclusion, if you want to run your own business don't listen to the people who keep bringing you down and say ads is not important any more . Advertising is the most crucial thing when running a business.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The essay addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding why people ignore ads is not fully explored, and the explanation of how ads persuade consumers is repetitive. The response tends to over-generalize, particularly in the conclusion, which focuses more on business advice than on the prompt's core debate about the effectiveness of advertising. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific examples or logical reasoning to support your claims rather than simply stating that advertising is 'crucial'.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally repetitive. For example, the transition 'On the other hand' is used correctly, but the internal linking within paragraphs is sometimes weak, making the flow feel slightly disjointed. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the phrase 'because of these ads' in the second body paragraph, which does not clearly link back to the previous point. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring clearer pronoun references would enhance the flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. You rely on basic terms like 'good thinking ads' and 'make ads', which are not natural collocations. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'persuaded', 'marketing team', 'social media'), but the range is limited. Some word choices are imprecise, such as 'make it' and 'lose their businesses', which do not accurately convey the intended meaning. To improve, focus on learning more sophisticated collocations related to business and marketing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'ads that meets people thinking'), incorrect article usage, and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'they just want people to lose their businesses'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. You should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and refining your use of complex sentence structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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