Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22

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)

Some people say that advertising is the main reason we buy things while others claim that it has become so common that we don't pay attention to it. It is to understand that the way things are adverstised is what matters.

Admittedly, with the increase of adverstising their has been a drastic increase in the sales of some products which leads to the company's allotting a major part of their spending budget into advertising. This results in people getting to know more about the product which increases its value in market. More we see the product, more we want to buy it, making advertising successful.

Althought, Advertising plays a major rule in us buying the product, it is also the reason we get bored of the product easily. As discussed previously that companies spend most of their budget in advertising, each company is getting competitive into showcasing their product which leads to us seeing things again and again to the point we go used to it and it became a common part of out life. This became the reason some people stopped paying attention to it in whole.

I think advertising is successful at persuading us to buy thing as occasionally we come across a product we need, if it is advertised to us and is required by us so we tend to buy it more then go out and search for it in the market. In this way advertising brings the product to us making it successful.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on advertising and providing a personal opinion in the conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly in the body paragraphs where concepts like companies spending budgets and products becoming common are restated without much progression. Furthermore, the length requirement of 250 words is not met, as the response contains 248 words, resulting in a minor penalty under Task Achievement. Despite these shortcomings, the student presents a clear position throughout the essay and supports their arguments with relevant, albeit basic, reasoning. To reach a higher band, the writer should expand further on the arguments with more detailed examples and ensure the minimum word count is strictly satisfied.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion containing the writer's stance. Paragraphing is utilised adequately to separate distinct ideas. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. For instance, transitional phrases like 'Admittedly' and 'Althought' (a misspelling of 'Although') are used, but referencing devices and logical connectors between sentences lack smooth progression. The phrase 'As discussed previously that companies spend...' is awkwardly linked. While the organisation is sufficient to follow the writer's train of thought, the mechanical nature of the cohesive devices and occasional unclear referencing prevent the response from achieving a higher score in this category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'persuading', 'competitive', and 'occasional', but these are accompanied by noticeable spelling and word choice errors. For example, 'adverstised' and 'adverstising' are misspelled multiple times, and phrases like 'getting competitive into showcasing' and 'go used to it' contain inaccurate collocations. The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, relying heavily on repetitive terms such as 'product', 'advertising', and 'company'. While the intended meaning is mostly conveyed and communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of lexical errors and limited variety place this performance firmly within the Band 5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional and relative clauses ('...a product we need, if it is advertised to us...'). However, the grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including fragments or awkward phrasings like 'It is to understand that...' and 'more we see the product, more we want to buy it' (missing articles). Additionally, punctuation and spelling slips occur, such as 'Althought' instead of 'Although' and 'out life' instead of 'our life'. Complex sentence attempts are frequently faulty, causing some minor difficulty for the reader, which aligns with the Band 5 criteria.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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