Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-25

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 growing debate over whether advertising is helping to attract more buyers. While some people argue that in the modern day, it is quite common that no one considers it when purchasing anything. In my opinion, it requires a large amount of budget, and commercial advertising plays a vital role in gaining attention because it is a more efficient marketing strategy.

On the one hand, supporters of advertising believe that it is

beneficial to persuade people to purchase more things. Today, marketing campaigns have the potential to attract customers worldwide, it can help to expand their business more significantly. For instance, companies can do promotions and publicity of their goods through social media platforms and internet celebrity influencers. As a result, it can drive more valuable people to purchase their product, which can help to generate increased revenue. From this perspective, business who are thriving can get a large amount of benefits.

On the other hand, the individuals who are against advertising believe that no one depends on product publicity because people prefer to buy things they are satisfied with and familiar. They believe that nowadays there is a plethora of businesses that do a lot of advertising, usually, people do not watch adverts. Users consider commercials as disturbing, a good example of this would be people purchasing YouTube Premium subscriptions to avoid ads. This shows that the growth of many businesses in the market is increasing promotional activity, which has an adverse effect on campaigns.

In conclusion, both perspectives have their merits. However, I am more convinced that advertising is extremely persuasive in increasing the growth of businesses, because it can convince people to buy a specific product and generate bigger revenue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the first body paragraph provides a logical argument regarding the benefits of advertising, the second body paragraph is slightly repetitive and could have been more deeply explored. The position is consistent throughout, but the explanation of why advertising is 'extremely successful' versus 'ignored' could be more nuanced to reach a higher band. Overall, the task requirements are met, but the depth of analysis is limited.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used effectively to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as in the sentence 'business who are thriving', where the plural/singular agreement and pronoun usage could be smoother. Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at less common items like 'plethora', 'promotional activity', and 'adverse effect'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'drive more valuable people' (which is slightly unnatural) and 'do promotions and publicity' (where 'conduct' or 'run' would be more appropriate). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but the lack of more sophisticated, precise vocabulary prevents a higher score. The errors do not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'business who are thriving' and 'it is quite common that no one considers it'. Additionally, some sentences are slightly clunky, such as 'the growth of many businesses in the market is increasing promotional activity'. While the errors are frequent, they do not impede communication, and the writer demonstrates a reasonable command of complex structures.

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