Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-04

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)

It is often argued that advertising is extremely successful at persuading people to buy things. In contrast, others believe that advertising is so common that people no longer pay attention to it. I believe that advertising is extremely crucial in persuading people to buy products.

Some people believe that advertising remains highly effective in shaping people's buying decisions. This is because people buy products when they see them. It explains the simple human attraction towards products which they see. This results in awareness and shapes the buying decision. For example, there is high competition among similar things, and people usually have a variety of brands; advertising empowers the brands to stand out.

On the other hand, others argue that marketing is pretty common, so it no longer gets people's consideration. This is because every local to international brand is making efforts to advertise, and similar trends are being followed, this results in creating no impact on users' decision-making process, but many brands are getting huge recognition and support from followers because of their unique marketing and trendy reels which really helps them to stand out among others. So they really get people's attention by making good advertising content.

Overall, people think marketing is highly successful in making people's buying decisions while other says they no longer pays attention to marketing nowadays. I believe that marketing is highly successful in getting customers, as people buy what they see, and it creates awareness about your brand and influences them to buy things.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task, discussing both views regarding advertising persuasiveness and ubiquity, while also presenting a clear personal position. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the first body paragraph attempts to explain human attraction to products, but the explanation remains superficial, stating simply that 'people buy products when they see them' without fully extending the argument. Similarly, the second body paragraph mixes the idea of ads being too common with the counter-argument about unique marketing reels, creating some confusion rather than fully exploring why saturation leads consumers to ignore advertisements. To move to a higher level, the ideas need to be more fully elaborated with more detailed explanations and stronger supporting examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, and the four-paragraph structure is appropriate for an argumentative essay. However, the progression of ideas is occasionally mechanical and repetitive, particularly in the conclusion where phrases like 'people think marketing is highly successful' reiterate previous points without adding new momentum. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes basic or repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on 'This is because' and 'On the other hand'. Furthermore, referencing is at times unclear, as seen in the final paragraph where the pronoun 'they' shifts ambiguously between marketers and consumers. Achieving a higher standard requires more varied and sophisticated cohesive devices alongside smoother transitions between sentences and paragraphs to establish a more natural logical progression throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing a sufficient range to communicate the main arguments. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items and phrases, such as 'decision-making process', 'huge recognition', and 'stand out among others', but these are occasionally paired with slight inaccuracies in word choice or collocation. For example, using 'similar things' instead of 'competing products' or 'getting people's consideration' rather than 'capturing consumer attention' lacks precision. Additionally, there are minor repetitive patterns in word usage, such as the repeated employment of 'extremely crucial' and 'highly successful'. To elevate the lexical score, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of precise, sophisticated academic vocabulary and demonstrate more natural control over lexical collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The text displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to vary grammatical structures. Complex sentences are present, such as 'This is because people buy products when they see them', but attempts at more intricate structures can occasionally become slightly clumsy or repetitive in construction. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, including article omissions and minor agreement slips, such as 'other says they no longer pays attention' in the final paragraph, which mixes plural and singular forms incorrectly. Although these grammatical inaccuracies rarely impede overall communication, they do surface frequently enough to restrict the response. Improving this area requires greater accuracy in complex sentence patterns, tighter control over verb-subject agreement, and more consistent grammatical precision.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.