Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-05

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 6.5)

Marketing has always played an important part in affecting customer choices, however, excessive advertisements now a days has made some people immune to them to such extent that they don't even bother paying attention to them, let alone being persuaded by them. I agree with both viewpoints upto some extent.

Effective advertising is a great means of attracting customers. It is the only way to raise awareness about a specific product or service. In an age where social media has made the world a global village, online advertisement remains the most effective way to spread information about the product to all parts of the world. From my personal experience, I could not agree less with this notion as most of my purchases are influenced by such social product marketing. It's not just the advertisements that persuade customers but also the way that owners visually present their products_perfect product condition, ideal lighting and all these ideally created situations adds to the percieved value of the product. The best example of this is how food companies market their items especially, fast food items. All the items are shown as perfect as possible, no sauce spilling from the sides, buns placed ideally. Using such tactics, the user is forced into percieving a much ideal image of the actual product and ends up buying the product.

However, the same advertisements have become so common, that most people no longer pay attention to them particularly, when they are forced to watch advetisements. Like fixed ads on social media platforms that pop up right in the middle of an interesting content, can't be skipped and the user is forced to watch them. But the frustation of having to watch it forcefully, deviates the attention of the user away from the ad and they just start waiting for the ad to finish. Likewise, advertising of the same product by various brands reduces the product value as the customers get fed up with watching similar campaigns again and again. Recently, the washing powder brand Surf Excel and Ariel were advertised so much and in a similar fashion, that I got frustrated whenever the ad came and would just walk away from the screen.

To conclude everything, I would say that although advertisement is an effective way of persuading customers, its effectiveness comes to down to the content of the marketing campaign, how well it is able to grab user attention without feeling repetitive everytime. In my view, advertisement should be the approach to target customers but only if done in the right way.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both views and give a clear, balanced position: advertising can persuade, but its impact depends on how it is presented and how often people encounter it. The discussion is relevant and supported with examples, especially the idealised presentation of fast food and your reaction to repeated Surf Excel and Ariel campaigns. These examples help explain the mechanisms behind each view. However, some claims are broad or not fully explained: for instance, calling online advertising “the most effective way” to spread information is asserted rather than compared with other methods, and the point about similar campaigns reducing a product’s value could be developed further. Your conclusion restates your view, though “the right way” remains somewhat general. More precise explanation and development would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, one paragraph for each viewpoint, and a conclusion. The progression from advertising’s persuasive presentation to the effects of overexposure is easy to follow, and transitions such as “However” and “To conclude” make the main stages clear. This gives the response a coherent arrangement. At times, though, connections are mechanical or the references are not fully clear. For example, “the same advertisements” shifts from the persuasive examples to the broader issue of repetition without a precise link, while “To conclude everything” is an awkward signpost. Some sentences also contain several related points, making the progression less controlled. Use clearer links between claims and examples, and vary transitions so that relationships are expressed rather than simply announced.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including terms such as “raise awareness,” “visually present,” “perceived value,” “campaigns,” and “repetitive.” These choices help explain how advertising works and how audiences respond. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “idealised image,” although some combinations are inaccurate or unnatural: “deviates the attention” and “comes to down to” do not express the intended meanings idiomatically. Spelling errors such as “percieved,” “advetisements,” and “frustation,” along with informal wording like “now a days,” reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise collocations and proofread spelling; this would make your vocabulary more controlled without needing unnecessarily complex words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including clauses beginning with “although,” “as,” and “when,” and most of the meaning remains clear. Some sentences are ambitious, but errors in punctuation, agreement, and sentence construction limit accuracy. For example, the opening joins two independent clauses with a comma before “however”; use a full stop or a semicolon. In “all these ideally created situations adds,” the plural subject requires “add.” The sentence beginning “Like fixed ads on social media platforms” is a fragment, and “the effectiveness comes to down to” has an incorrect grammatical pattern. There are also awkward constructions such as “the user is forced into perceiving.” Review clause boundaries, subject–verb agreement, and sentence patterns, then edit complex sentences carefully.

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