Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-04

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In their advertising, businesses nowadays usually emphasise that their products are new in some way. Why is this? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?

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

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Personally I think that there are different reasons why businesses choose to adopt this kind of advertising strategy and that are due to various factors. First of all there is the savage competition between similar brands: companies are constantly looking for new strategies to get a bigger slice of customers and to obtain greater earnings.

While brands are trying to highlight differences and changes in their products, the reality is that these are all at the same level of progress and there are not significant advantages by choosing one instead of another: their aim is to convince people to feel differences that, often, are not even real. This aspect is closely link with the second reason that lead this phenomenon that is the need of the people to own the best objects that markets could offer.

Moreover people are lead to believe that even a small improvement in a technological field, for example, could be able to radically change their life even if, as in reality happens, it is just an useless expense influenced by their emotions.

An interest example could be "artifical reality": just few years ago Apple released a new device that, stand on what they were saying, would have changed our lifes: what really happened is that a lot of people bought it and, today, nobody use it anymore.

Personally I believe that this development has substancial negative consequences: although sometimes businesses are really bringing something new or innovative on the market, in the majority of the cases are just trying to convince and persuade people to spend their money, sometimes more than they can afford.

Furthermore, this strategy has a huge impact on the environment because lead to the production of new numerous objects with short life expectancy.

In conclusion I believe that this kind of advertising campaign is more harmful than we believe and quite unethical but, unfortunately, destined to last for long.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the advertising strategy and the writer's opinion on whether it is positive or negative. The ideas are relevant, such as competition and consumer psychology, and the position is clear throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the example of 'artificial reality' is a bit vague and could have been better integrated to support the argument about consumer behavior. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with more specific analysis or evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the reasons from the evaluation. Cohesive devices are present, such as 'First of all', 'Moreover', and 'Furthermore', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, although there are occasional minor issues with flow, such as in the second paragraph where the connection between the 'reality of products' and 'consumer needs' could be smoother. Overall, the progression of ideas is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task. The writer uses some good collocations like 'savage competition' and 'short life expectancy'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing, such as 'lead this phenomenon' (should be 'leads to') and 'an interest example' (should be 'an interesting example'). Additionally, 'useless expense' is slightly unnatural in this context. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey meaning, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('reasons... that are due to', 'people are lead to believe', 'it is just an useless expense') and minor punctuation errors. While these errors are frequent, they do not impede communication. To improve, the writer should focus on proofreading for basic agreement and verb forms, and attempt to incorporate more varied complex structures with greater accuracy.

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

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