Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-13

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 6.0)

There is a massive debate between people on if advertising helps a company to sell products or not. In my opinion, advertisements are very successful in persuading people to buy products. Nowadays, a lot of people use social media; therefore, ads can reach a large number of audience. Additionally, different algorithms are now being introdduced which displays personalized advertisements according to the need of people. Hence, these advertisements can play a massive part in the growth of a company.

In todays world, technology is at its peak. People use different applications and play a large number of games on their smartphones which shows different ads to them. However, the impact of these advertisements depend on how much effort is being put into creating them. Companies can pay different social media influencers to promote their product. For example, dermatologist influencers can be approached by skin care brands to promote their products. On the other hand, there are a lot of algorithms availible which helps an application to show ads relevant to the person using it. For example, a person showing interest in buying clothes is shown more of such websites by the algorithm.

On the contrary, a number of people are quite justified in their opinion that people dont pay attention to ads because they have become common. Everyday, people see a large number of ads everywhere on the internet. Hence, their brain filters most the ads as irrelevant and they dont pay much attention to them. For example, a large number of users face ads when they are playing a game, causing them to skip them without even looking at the content.

It is undeniable that advertisements play a large part in persuading people to buy different things. Nevertheless, the success only depends on the strategy being used to display and create these ads. Advertisements bring most success when they reach the right audience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are relevant, such as the role of algorithms and influencer marketing. However, the development of these points is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding why people ignore ads is mentioned but could have been explored with more depth regarding the psychological aspect of 'banner blindness'. While the task is fully addressed, the support for the ideas is a bit repetitive, keeping it at a solid level where the main points are clear but not fully extended.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two opposing views. Cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'On the other hand', and 'Nevertheless' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the use of 'such websites' which is a bit vague. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, and the structure supports the argument effectively.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. You use some topic-specific terms like 'algorithms', 'influencers', and 'personalized advertisements'. However, there is a reliance on simpler phrasing and some repetitive word choices, such as 'large number of' and 'ads'. There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'introdduced' (spelling) and 'availible' (spelling). To reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise collocations and a wider variety of synonyms to avoid repetition and demonstrate a more sophisticated command of the language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'a large number of audience' (should be 'a large audience'), 'todays world' (missing apostrophe), and 'filters most the ads' (missing 'of'). Subject-verb agreement is occasionally inconsistent, for example, 'algorithms... which helps' (should be 'help'). Despite these errors, they do not impede communication. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic punctuation and ensuring subject-verb agreement in complex sentences.

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