Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-11

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 5.5)

Marketing and advertising is the core of every business to grow and evolve. The practices to advertise a product changes after every few year. The angling of the product in a way that it has something new to present to a consumer might be a new style to be adopted by a wide range of contemporary advertising agencies. It is considered to be a popular trend. Despite being a trend, this could be due to numerous reasons. The ongoing overflow of similar products might be one of it.

As we know, in this modern and extensively connected world, it is not very rare or difficult to create a product similar to anyone. Most of the novel product ideas are might be generated using artificial intelligence (AI). AI is accessible by everyone these days and there are chances that it can give same suggestions to multiple product researchers. So companies try to add a new angle or feature in their product to catch the audience.

Besides this, talking about the advantages and disadvantages of it, it can be assumed in both ways. Positively, it urge the businesses to grow further in their product development and do experiments in bringing a better thing to market. But it could be negative in a way that most of the companies might mention a novelity or newness in their product which simply doesn't exists. For example; in recent past, one of the major food company used to mention one of its product as ice cream but it actually was a frozen dessert. Another big food company sued them to remove the term off their products. The court then order the prior company to explicity mention it as 'frozen dessert'

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: why businesses emphasize novelty and whether this is positive or negative. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The explanation regarding AI and market saturation is relevant, but the discussion on the positive and negative aspects is brief. The example provided about the food company is specific, but the analysis of the 'positive' side is quite general and lacks depth. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the implications of these marketing strategies, perhaps discussing consumer trust or the impact on innovation more thoroughly. The position is clear, but the supporting arguments need more elaboration to fully satisfy the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your argument. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Besides this' and 'For example', to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the transition between the reasons for novelty and the evaluation of its impact could be smoother. Referencing is generally clear, but some sentences feel slightly disjointed. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would enhance the overall coherence and cohesion of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'contemporary', 'saturation', and 'explicity'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'The angling of the product' and 'one of it' (should be 'one of them'). Additionally, there are minor errors in word formation, such as 'novelity' instead of 'novelty'. While your vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, you need to use a wider range of less common lexical items with more precision to achieve a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. For instance, 'Most of the novel product ideas are might be generated' contains a double modal error. There are also subject-verb agreement issues, such as 'The practices... changes' and 'one of the major food company' (should be 'companies'). Punctuation is occasionally inconsistent, particularly with the use of semicolons and commas. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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