Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-14

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)

Nowadays marketing is a essential part of modern life. Some people believe that advertising is highly effective in encouraging people to buy products as they see advertisements almost everywhere. Others argue that advertisements has become so common that made it less interested to people. This essay will discuss both views before stating my opinion.

On the one hand, people think that marketing has made it easier for businesses to catch the attention of people towards their products. As nowadays with developments in technology companies can create aesthetic pictures of their products and ads about their services to attract audience to purchase certain items even if they do not need them. Furthermore, everyone use social media through which they are exposed to a lot of advertisements of different businesses. Especially those in which big celebrities appears which persuade them to buy those products as they trust their favorite celebrities. In addition people get to know about discounts and offers which attracts them to purchase products in bulk.

On the other hand, advertising has become so common that many people have developed ways of ignoring it. Consumers are exposed to advertisements on television, social media, websites, mobile applications and even public transport. As a result, they may automatically skip online advertisements or pay little attention to banners and commercials. Furthermore, people are now more aware of marketing techniques and may not easily believe exaggerated claims made by companies. For instance, many social media users simply scroll past sponsored posts without reading them. This suggests that the large amount of advertising people encounter every day can reduce its overall impact.

In my opinion, although people often ignore ordinary advertisements, advertising remains highly successful when it is relevant and carefully targeted. Modern companies can use consumers' interests and online behaviour to show them products that are more likely to appeal to them. Consequently, a person may ignore hundreds of advertisements but still respond positively to one that matches their needs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—that advertising is extremely successful and that it is too common to be noticed—and presents a clear personal opinion in the introduction and conclusion. The ideas are relevant and supported with explanations, such as the use of social media and celebrity endorsement for the first view, and consumer habits like scrolling past sponsored posts for the second view. However, some arguments remain slightly under-developed, falling short of the full extension required for higher bands. For instance, the discussion on targeted advertising in the conclusion introduces a new idea that could have been integrated earlier. Overall, the task is addressed well, matching the Band 7 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: the introduction outlines the essay's structure, the second body paragraph explores the success of marketing, the third examines the phenomenon of ignoring ads, and the final paragraph delivers the writer's stance. Cohesive devices are used appropriately, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Consequently', which help guide the reader through the arguments. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and effectively. However, referencing and transitions are at times a bit mechanical, preventing it from reaching the higher bands where cohesion is completely unobtrusive. Therefore, a band score of 7.0 is well justified.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic discussion, using terms like 'aesthetic pictures', 'exaggerated claims', 'sponsored posts', and 'online behaviour'. There are some successful attempts at less common lexical items. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as 'marketing is a essential part' (article error), 'has become so common that made it less interested to people' (incorrect word form; should be 'less interesting'), and 'everyone use social media' (subject-verb agreement). These errors do not impede communication, placing the response solidly within the Band 6 territory, with occasional glimpses of Band 7 control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses ('products that are more likely to appeal to them') and conditional/concessive structures ('although people often ignore ordinary advertisements'). There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as missing articles ('marketing is a essential') and awkward phrasing like 'others argue that advertisements has become' (plural noun with singular verb). Punctuation is generally acceptable, though some sentences run on without adequate commas. The frequency and nature of these errors mean that simple sentences are often error-free, but complex structures frequently harbour minor slips, aligning with the Band 6 descriptor.

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