Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-15

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 6.0)

While one school of thought believes that advertising is immensely successful at convincing individuals to buy things, the other school of thought argues that it has been omnipresent which is why we no longer pay attention to it.

Advertising is a medium used to promote a product or a service through various channels. Lately, advertising if often held accountable for the increase in consumerism. Targetted ads with access to our data alongside algorithm pushes products we talk about, which we eventually buy. For example, I recently came across a skin care product i was not meaning to buy because I had alternatives to it however, I purhcased it because of the repeated promotions and offers i came across. This indicates how advertising has been persuading us to give in a buy products through their nudges.

On the other hand, I agree with how the lens through which advertisements were perceived have changed. Due to the monotonous type of Advertisements on TV, social media and hoardings, people have started ignoring them. People now have a tendency to ignore these marketing techniques. For instance, everytime an ad occurs of the television everybody in family tends to grab their phone while keeping the television on simultaneously showing a reduction in the attention of this form of advertisement.

To recapitulate, I believe that while advertisements often incline our decision to buy products through targetted nudges, there has been a significant decline in the attention people pay to these forms of marketing in the last half a decade.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both views and state a balanced position: advertising can influence purchases through targeted promotions, while its ubiquity can reduce attention. The skincare purchase and the family turning to their phones are relevant examples that help illustrate each side. However, the first view is developed more concretely than the second: the television example shows distraction, but the essay could explain more fully why repeated exposure makes people tune out or whether this applies equally to online advertising. Your conclusion restates the main contrast, though “the last half a decade” is not established in the discussion. Develop each explanation more evenly and make the relationship between your examples and the broader claims explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction presents the two views, separate body paragraphs discuss them, and a conclusion summarises your position. Transitions such as “On the other hand” and “To recapitulate” make the progression easy to follow, and the examples are placed alongside the relevant claims. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some flexibility in linking ideas. At times, however, connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “This indicates how advertising has been persuading us to give in a buy products” does not express the intended link smoothly, and the long sentence about the family watching television is difficult to follow. Use clearer sentence boundaries and more precise references to strengthen the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including phrases such as “consumerism,” “targeted ads,” “monotonous,” and “marketing techniques.” These choices show an attempt to use more specific and less common vocabulary, and the main ideas remain understandable. Some wording is inaccurate or unnatural, however: “algorithm pushes products” has an agreement and phrasing problem, “give in a buy products” is not an appropriate collocation, and “the lens through which advertisements were perceived” is unnecessarily abstract for the point being made. There are also spelling and capitalisation slips, including “Targetted,” “purhcased,” and “Advertisments.” Aim for precise, natural collocations and proofread spelling so that ambitious vocabulary supports rather than obscures your meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “a product I was not meaning to buy because I had alternatives” and a contrastive opening with “While.” The overall meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “advertising if often held accountable” has an incorrect verb form, and “the lens … have changed” has a subject–verb agreement problem. The sentence beginning “For instance, everytime an ad occurs…” also becomes difficult to control, with unclear clause structure and punctuation. Review agreement, verb forms, and sentence boundaries, especially in longer sentences. More consistently accurate complex sentences would make your argument easier to read while preserving the range you are attempting.

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