Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-21

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)

Advertising plays an important role in influencing people and reaching numerous customers. Companies tend to advertise their launched products to gain customer attention and secure profits by convincing them to buy. Some people think advertising is a tactic used by organizations to trap customers and make everyone trust their product blindly. However, advertising can be beneficial for both customers and product launchers.

A primary function of advertising is to inform potential customers about products and their potential benefits. Although advertising may generate curiosity and encourage unnecessary purchases, it is more important to assess whether a product addresses a genuine need. For example, if consumers in Asian countries had not been informed about the introduction of washing machines in the United States, traditional methods of washing clothes might have persisted, limiting access to technological advancements. Thus, advertising facilitates global product dissemination and can contribute to solving societal challenges.

On the other hand, people ignore advertising due to traps and tactics companies use to perceive their mind to buy. Even some people find advertising as annoying and wasting time. The reason is when people use any social media app, they find influencers who always promote products even if that's not worth buying. And the growing number of influencers are creating large chunk of promotional videos which is irrelevant to people.

In my opinion, advertising should be regulated and companies are responsible to their product's false promotions. Policymakers should impose necessary protocols for limited advertisement of the product and restrict the false promises companies make to people. Also it is everyone's responsibility to research the item before buying rather than following the promotional videos and increasing its credibility.

AI examiner evaluation

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 uneven. The argument regarding the benefits of advertising is supported by a relevant example, but the discussion on why people ignore advertising is less developed and relies on generalizations about influencers. The conclusion introduces new ideas about regulation that were not fully explored in the body paragraphs. To reach a higher band, ensure that each viewpoint is balanced in terms of depth and that the conclusion synthesizes the arguments presented rather than introducing new policy suggestions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'Although', 'For example', and 'On the other hand' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. For instance, the transition in the third paragraph regarding why people ignore ads is a bit abrupt. Referencing is generally clear, but there is occasional repetition of terms like 'advertising' and 'products' which could be mitigated by more varied pronoun usage or synonyms.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'dissemination' and 'protocols', which is positive. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'perceive their mind to buy' (which is non-standard) and 'large chunk of promotional videos'. Additionally, the phrase 'product launchers' is not the most natural collocation for companies. Expanding the range of precise academic vocabulary and focusing on natural collocations would improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'Even some people find advertising as annoying' (should be 'find advertising annoying'), 'companies are responsible to their product's false promotions' (should be 'responsible for'), and 'the growing number of influencers are creating' (subject-verb agreement error: 'number' is singular). Punctuation is mostly accurate, but the control over complex structures needs to be more consistent to avoid these recurring errors.

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