Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-17

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

News stories on TV and in newspapers are very often accompanied by pictures.

Some people say that these pictures are more effective than words.

What is your opinion about this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

News plays a very important part in every person's life, as it helps us know about what is going on around the world and keeps us updated. News nowadays reaches people through different mediums such as television and newspapers. News is now displayed along with pictures. Most people agree that they are more effective than words this essay states my view about this; even i agree with the statement that news accompanied by images is more effective than just words

News have varoius article regarding different aspects in the world, news are can be local or worldwilde for instinct there are regional, local amd worldwide news chanels and newspaper, initial when newspaper were printed they were black and white print no colour no images, same goes for news on telvision they were dull only speech and tons of information, which tends to be boring and makes it less imaginative, many people can interpet words in differnet way. Sometimes words don't do justice to the real situation; for example, I still remember in school assembly we were made to read news every morning. Initially, we had newspaper who were without any images or colour; it was really boring. We would lose interest in it very soon, but then a year later, the school introduced a special edition newspaper for kids where there were images, which made reading the news more fun, and we could relate to the news more as we were able to understand it much better

Initially, when television was just invented, there were reporters recording news from the studio, providing us updates on what's going on. As technology developed with an increase in camera recording systems, the news reporting also developed, as I recall the recent Nepal floods, which were devastating. Just words wouldn't have done justice to the extent of the destruction was done but along with images, people can really know the the damange an come forward for help. There were many missing people, as news shoulded there images in newschannel and newspape many when where found and reunited with their families.

Images add more meaning to the words and help in processing data in a better way. In my view picture alongside with words are more effective than just words

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing the effectiveness of pictures alongside news stories and presenting a clear personal position. The writer extends ideas by providing relevant personal experience from school and a real-world example regarding the Nepal floods. However, some ideas are slightly repetitive and under-developed in terms of broader social or media implications, and there is a tendency to over-generalise. Despite these minor limitations, the main arguments are supported and the overall task requirements are met effectively, aligning well with the descriptors for Band 6.5 or a solid Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance stated in the introduction. Ideas are logically sequenced, moving from early school memories to technological developments in television and journalism. However, paragraphing is somewhat problematic; the essay features long, run-on sections and lacks clear separation of ideas, particularly in the lengthy second and third paragraphs. Furthermore, cohesive devices are occasionally faulty, mechanical, or missing, leading to run-on sentences such as 'Just words wouldn't have done justice to the extent of the destruction was done but along with images...'. Referencing and punctuation are occasionally unclear, which restricts the coherence score to Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'devastating', 'reunited', and 'imaginative'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'varoius', 'worldwilde', 'amg', 'chanels', 'telvision', 'interpet', 'shoulded', and 'damange'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently and reveal limitations in lexical control and precision. The writer demonstrates a sufficient base for everyday communication and task completion, but the frequency of spelling slips keeps the lexical score at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb forms, tense consistency, and sentence boundary punctuation (such as run-on sentences and comma splices). Examples include 'news are can be local or worldwilde', 'initial when newspaper were printed', and 'the extent of the destruction was done'. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader and demonstrate that complex structures are often faulty. While communication is maintained, the high frequency of structural and mechanical errors places this response firmly in the Band 5.0 category.

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