Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-22

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)

Nowadays, many businesses and companies always say in advertises that their products are new in some way. There is some main reasons for this situation, and I think this is a negative development for people, family budget, and the environment.

First of all, companies do this because they want to attract many people and sell more products every day. People always like buying new things, like new technology, new cars, or new clothes. For example, big phone companies like Apple and Samsung make a new smartphone model every year and they say in advertises that it is a new model with new features. When people see this advertises on TV or internet, they think their old phone is very bad and old, so they go and buy the new phone immediately. Also, companies want to make more money and profit, so they always talk about new things to customers.

However, I believe this situation is a negative development for two main reasons. First reason, people spend too much unnecessary money for useless things. Many times, the new product is very similar to the old product, but people spend a lot of money to buy it again. This is very bad for family money and budget. Second reason, it creates a lot of garbage, waste, and pollution in the world. When people buy new things every year, they throw away their old things that still work very fine. This makes a huge problem for nature, environment, and climate.

In conclusion, businesses say their products are new because they want to sell more products and make more money. But I think this is a negative development because people spend unnecessary money and it makes too much garbage for our world. We should use our old things longer and not buy everything.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: explaining why businesses emphasize 'newness' and providing a clear opinion on whether this is positive or negative. The ideas are relevant, such as the desire for profit and the environmental impact. However, the development is somewhat simplistic. While the points are clear, they lack depth and specific, nuanced analysis. For instance, the discussion on consumer psychology could be expanded beyond just 'liking new things.' The position is consistent throughout, but the supporting arguments would benefit from more sophisticated examples or a deeper exploration of the economic implications to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, which helps the reader follow the argument. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'First of all,' 'However,' and 'In conclusion,' though these are somewhat basic and repetitive. The progression of ideas is generally smooth, but the transition between the reasons for the business strategy and the negative impacts could be more fluid. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the overall structure is clear and easy to navigate.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There is a reliance on simple, repetitive words like 'new,' 'bad,' 'things,' and 'money.' While the meaning is always clear, the range of vocabulary is limited. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'advertises' (should be 'advertisements' or 'ads') and 'work very fine' (should be 'work perfectly' or 'are in good working order'). To improve, you should incorporate more topic-specific collocations and academic vocabulary related to marketing, consumerism, and environmental sustainability.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'There is some main reasons' (subject-verb agreement), 'see this advertises' (pluralization), and 'spend too much unnecessary money for useless things' (preposition choice). Punctuation is generally correct, but the sentence variety is limited. To achieve a higher score, you should aim for more complex sentence forms, such as conditional clauses or passive voice, and ensure better control over basic grammatical rules like subject-verb agreement and pluralization.

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