Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

There is a massive debate between people on whether 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 large audience.

In today's world, technology is at its peak. People use different applications and play a large number of games on their smartphones which show 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. Similarly, there are a lot of algorithms available 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 do not 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 of the ads as irrelevant and they do not 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 6.5

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 mention of social media influencers and algorithmic targeting. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about 'brain filtering' is a strong observation but could have been expanded with more depth regarding the psychological aspect of ad-blindness. The response covers all parts of the prompt well, but the depth of analysis remains at a functional level rather than a fully extended one, which is characteristic of a Band 7 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the two viewpoints. Cohesive devices such as 'In today's world', 'On the contrary', and 'Nevertheless' are used to guide the reader through the argument. While the flow is generally smooth, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. The referencing is clear, and the essay maintains a consistent focus throughout, ensuring that the reader can follow the writer's line of reasoning without difficulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning with some precision. The writer uses topic-specific terms like 'algorithms', 'dermatologist influencers', and 'persuading'. However, the range is somewhat restricted, and there is a reliance on simpler phrasing such as 'a lot of' and 'different'. To reach a higher band, the writer should incorporate more sophisticated collocations and less common lexical items to demonstrate a wider, more flexible range of vocabulary. The current level is adequate for the task but lacks the nuance of higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'the impact of these advertisements depend' (should be 'depends') and 'helps an application to show' (should be 'help'). While these errors are present, they do not impede communication. The writer shows an ability to use complex structures, but the control is not entirely consistent. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences and refining subject-verb agreement would help elevate the score in this criterion.

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

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