Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-28

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 critics believe that advertisement persude people to buy things, whilst other advocates that advertisement have become so normal that individuals no longer pay enough response to them. This essay agrees that advertisement plays a vital role in making people buy things. This essay will first demostrate how advertisement has made an impact on individuals to buys things by showcasing them the items that can be really useful, thereafter argues that advertisement has become unpopular as people don't have enough time, before reaching to the conclusion that advertisment is really succesful in making our mind to buy different neccesities.

Advertisement has become immensly popular in making the mind of individuals to buy different items. Majority of the items are sold online using ads on different online platforms, namely instagram and youtube. Most people are using these platforms as a source of entertainment and that's where these ads plays a essential role in making them see the items before the start of any video. These items can be utensils,hardware or anything in particular that can be useful for any indivdual. For example, according to the survey conducted by the University of Cambridge 70% of the items are sold online through advertisements worldwide.

On the other hand, some diagrees with this argument and says that these ads have become quite outdated to be given any attention. Since mostly people skips these advertisements. However, there haven't a concrete evidence that ads have become unpopular among the individuals. For instance, according to the youtube analytics ads clicks are increasing over the period of time as online shopping is at its peak.

To conlcude, advertisment is very succesful in making up the mind of individuals to buy specific items of their need. Some disagrees with this statement and considers it unpopular, despite it being essential component in persuading people to buys different things.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on advertising and providing a clear personal position. In the introduction, the student outlines both perspectives and states their opinion, which is then reinforced in the conclusion. Main ideas are presented, such as the influence of online platforms and YouTube/Instagram ads on purchasing behavior, and supported with examples like the Cambridge survey reference and YouTube analytics. However, some ideas lack deep extension, and there is a slight contradiction in the introduction where the student states the essay will argue that advertisement has become unpopular, which conflicts with their actual thesis and subsequent paragraphs. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, including an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Transitional phrases and cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand', 'For example', and 'To conlcude' are employed to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in minor awkward transitions and sentence links (e.g., 'before reaching to the conclusion that advertisment is really succesful'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points, but internal cohesion occasionally falters, placing this securely in the Band 6.0 category.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'persuading', 'advocates', 'essential component', and 'analytics'. However, there are numerous spelling errors and word choice inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'advertisement' misspelled or used where plurals are needed ('advertisment', 'advertisement has become unpopular'), 'persude', 'demostrate', 'buys', 'succesful', 'immensly', 'diagrees', 'neccesities', and 'conlcude'. These lexical errors do not severely impede communication because the writer's intent remains clear, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory dependent clauses (e.g., 'Since mostly people skips these advertisements'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'advertisement have become', 'ads plays a essential', 'mostly people skips', 'there haven't a concrete evidence'), incorrect article usage, and prepositional errors ('reaching to the conclusion'). While these errors are noticeable and require the reader to occasionally re-read, they do not completely obscure the meaning, aligning with the Band 5.5 descriptors.

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

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