Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-20

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 7.0)

Advertising today frequently highlights how products are updated, improved, or newly launched. This essay will examine why companies adopt this marketing strategy and why I view it as a generally negative trend.

Businesses emphasize novelty primarily to attract consumer attention in a highly competitive marketplace. Modern shoppers are constantly exposed to countless brands, making it difficult for products to stand out without a fresh image. By claiming an item is new or upgraded, companies trigger curiosity and create a strong sense of urgency among buyers. Furthermore, presenting products as innovative gives companies a strong justification to charge higher prices, which directly increases their overall corporate profitability. For example, technology companies regularly release minor phone updates to maintain continuous demand.

I believe this continuous focus on novelty is a negative development for two key reasons. First, it encourages excessive consumerism and financial strain on families. Many individuals feel social pressure to purchase the latest models of items, such as smartphones or fashion wear, even when their existing products work perfectly fine. Second, this trend leads to severe environmental damage worldwide. Rapidly replacing older goods creates enormous amounts of electronic waste and increases harmful industrial pollution during the manufacturing and shipping of new items.

In conclusion, companies advertise products as new to capture market attention, outperform competitors, and boost their annual sales. In my opinion in my opinion this is a negative development because it promotes wasteful spending habits among consumers, causes unnecessary financial stress, and places a heavy burden on the environment

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, providing clear reasons for the emphasis on novelty and a well-defined position on whether this is positive or negative. The ideas are relevant and logically extended, particularly the discussion on consumerism and environmental impact. The position is consistent throughout the essay. To reach a higher band, the writer could provide more specific, nuanced examples beyond the general mention of smartphones to further demonstrate depth of thought. However, the current development is sufficient for a strong score as it directly answers both parts of the question with a clear, logical structure.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the progression of ideas is smooth. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'First', 'Second', and 'In conclusion' are used effectively to guide the reader. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the reasons for the trend from the evaluation of its impact. The only minor issue is a repetition of 'in my opinion' in the final sentence, which slightly disrupts the flow, but overall, the cohesion is managed well and does not attract negative attention.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

The vocabulary is precise and appropriate for an academic context. Phrases such as 'highly competitive marketplace', 'trigger curiosity', 'excessive consumerism', and 'severe environmental damage' demonstrate a good range of topic-specific language. The writer uses these terms with flexibility and accuracy. While the vocabulary is effective, it lacks a few more sophisticated or idiomatic collocations that would push it into the highest band. Nevertheless, the range is more than sufficient to convey complex ideas clearly and accurately throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The essay displays a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are error-free, and the control of grammar is generally strong. There is a minor punctuation error in the conclusion where 'In my opinion in my opinion' is repeated, which is a slip rather than a lack of grammatical knowledge. The use of complex structures, such as 'By claiming an item is new or upgraded, companies trigger...', shows a good command of syntax. The errors present are rare and do not impede communication, fitting well within the criteria for a high band.

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