Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-15

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)

By and large, it is widely aruged that marketing can effectively attract costumers to buy things, while others think that advertisements are ubiquitous and people do not meticulously look at it. Although advertisements can persuade consumers in a subtle way, I firmly believe that individuals may skip it because of a colossal amount of advertisement available on the roads and social platforms.

Supperters of the first school of thoughts claim that advertisments convince coustomers to spend money. People while scrolling the social media or travelling in public transports often watch videos or hordings about some lucrative offers, resulting them to make their mind up. Consequently, families discuss among them and visit the stores to redeem offers. For instance, commuters travelling in metro while going to the office, may often pay attention to the advertisement board placed inside the metro as they are just sitting around there for a longer time. Therefore, placing an advertisment at right place may benefits to companies in order to attract buyers.

While critics of the aforementioned view, including me, argue that advertisments are now no longer effective. Individuals are taking premium subscriptions at platforms like Youtube and Instagram in order to watch contents without the interruption of advertisements. Besides, families while travelling may avoid watching the billbaords placed on the roads, to avoid loosing their focus and to prevent themselves from the road accidents. As a result, the outcome of advertisement may decline in the modern society.

In conclusion, although advertising has a profound impact on the consumers, I believe that an excessive number of advertisments is persuading the people to take the subscriptions on social media platforms and to avoid avertisement boards while travelling, to minimise the risk of injuries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—that advertising is successful at persuading buyers and that it is too common to be noticed—while also providing a clear personal position. The ideas are adequately developed, such as when the student explains how commuters in metros view advertisements or why people purchase premium streaming subscriptions to avoid interruptions. However, some arguments tend to over-generalise or remain slightly repetitive, particularly in the conclusion where the arguments are reiterated without much added extension. For instance, the reference to avoiding road accidents while driving is a relevant, albeit slightly hyperbolic, example of ignoring billboards. Overall, the task is fulfilled competently, aligning well with the expectations for Band 6.5 or a solid Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: an introduction with a clear thesis statement, a body paragraph discussing the persuasive nature of advertising, a counter-paragraph exploring why ads are ignored, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used to signal relationships between ideas, such as 'By and large', 'Consequently', 'Besides', and 'In conclusion'. However, there are instances where referencing and cohesion are slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the repeated use of 'advertisments' and transitional phrases. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, ensuring the reader can follow the argument without difficulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'ubiquitous', 'colossal', 'lucrative', and 'premium subscriptions'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the overall quality. Examples include 'aruged' instead of 'argued', 'costumers' instead of 'customers', 'Supperters' instead of 'Supporters', 'coustomers' instead of 'customers', 'hordings' instead of 'hoardings', 'billbaords' instead of 'billboards', and 'loosing' instead of 'losing'. Despite these errors, the intended meaning is generally clear, and the vocabulary is sufficient to convey relevant points.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and participial phrases such as 'People while scrolling the social media... often watch videos... resulting them to make their mind up.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, such as 'look at it' referring to plural advertisements, 'make their mind up' instead of 'make up their minds', 'benefits to companies' instead of 'benefit companies', and 'is persuading the people' instead of 'persuades people'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but prepositional and collocation errors persist. These errors do not impede communication but prevent the essay from reaching a higher band.

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