Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-19
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 has become an important part of modern life. While some people believe that advertisements are highly effective in encouraging consumers to purchase products,while others think that people see so many advertisements that they do not pay much attention to them. This essay will demonstrate both view in the subsequent fragments with my personal opinion.
On the one hand, there are multiple reasons why some people support this view. The first and foremost is influencing people's purchasing decisions. Companies use attractive pictures, special offers and simple messages to make their products look interesting. When people see the same product in many times, they may remember the brand and may become intrest to buy these types of products. For instance, if a person often sees an advertisement for a new mobile phone, they may think about buying that phone when they need a new one. Therefore, advertising can have a strong effect on people's buying choices.
On the other hand, many people believe that advertisements are no longer very effective because they are everywhere. People see advertisements on television, YouTube, social media, websites and even on buses. Because of this, they may ignore them or skip them whenever possible. Moreover, many people buy subscription to stop add in their phone during watch video on social media and listening music on spotify and they believe that it is waste of time and compinies want earn to profit through this ads. To exemplify, many people skip online advertisements after a few seconds because they are more interested in the video they want to watch. Also, people can now check reviews and prices online before buying something, instead of depending only on advertisements.
In conclusion, although both viewa have merits. I personaly believe that advertising is still effective, but it does not always make people buy things. People can easily ignore advertisements.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views on advertising—its persuasiveness and its ubiquity leading to disengagement—while also clearly stating the writer's own opinion in the introduction and conclusion. Ideas are relevant and supported with explanations and examples, such as mobile phone advertisements and skipping online videos. However, some arguments tend to be slightly repetitive, and the development could be extended further for a higher band. Overall, the task is fulfilled adequately, matching the Band 6 descriptors where all parts are addressed and relevant ideas are presented.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a clear overall arrangement with a logical paragraph structure, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs exploring each viewpoint and concluding with a final summary. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'For instance' are used to connect ideas, although some referencing is slightly faulty, such as 'demonstrate both view in the subsequent fragments'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct arguments. While the progression is generally clear, the mechanical nature of some transitions keeps it within the Band 6 tier.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'ubiquity' (implied), 'purchasing decisions', and 'subscription'. However, there are notable word-choice and collocation errors throughout the text, including 'demonstrate both view', 'intrest to buy', 'in many times', 'add' instead of 'ads', 'compinies want earn to profit', and 'viewa'. These errors reflect typical Band 6 limitations, though they do not seriously impede communication as the meaning remains clear.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as 'While some people believe that...' and 'if a person often sees an advertisement...'. However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips, including sentence fragment issues like 'while others think...' following a subordinate clause, missing articles ('buy subscription', 'during watch video'), and spelling issues ('intrest', 'viewa'). Control of grammar is sufficient for Band 6, where simple and complex structures are mixed with some persistent errors that rarely impede overall communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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