Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-03

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)

In todays era, modern businesses usually used highlight the novelty of their goods in marketing campaigns. The primarily reason is to attract customers to buy that products. In my opinion it is a negative development as it only used to beat the competition.

Firstly, the main reason of these marketing is to stand out in a crowd. As in todays rapidly changing world there are numerous products and customers are having numerous amount of choices so to maintain uniqueness in there products they usually emphasise

new with their products. Furthermore, it encourage people to buy that products by showcasing some features which make individuals attracts towards it also makes consumers feel excited. For instance, a smart phone brand display unique features by highlight words like newest modern technologies which make customer feel that current product are old - fashioned, and need to buy the recent model.

Secondly, it is a trick of many business to get your money. As marketing can be performed by various social media platform and by making small changes like colors, packaging , and soo on which pretend it is as a major and in reality it is unimportant things which gravitate buyers. Additionally, it create harm to environment as individuals throw away perfectly good item to buy the new version. As many advertising campaign encourage people to grab latest version with contain new features. By performing these type of content it also developed social pressure to maintain a good stand in society.

Therefore, just by displaying latest changes and manipulating customers mind is a strongly negative development. As every individuals should understand their need rather then just getting attracted towards current trends.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: explaining why businesses emphasize novelty and providing an opinion on whether this is positive or negative. The position is clear throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While the explanation for why businesses use novelty is clear, the argument regarding the negative impact could be more nuanced. For instance, the point about environmental harm is a strong, relevant idea, but it is not fully explored. The essay covers all requirements, but the depth of analysis is consistent with a band 6 level, as some points are slightly repetitive or under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', 'Secondly', and 'Therefore', which help guide the reader. However, some of the linking is mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'By performing these type of content'. Additionally, there are issues with referencing; for example, 'that products' and 'there products' (should be 'those' and 'their') create minor confusion. Overall, the progression of ideas is coherent, but the management of cohesive devices lacks the flexibility required for a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. There are several instances of incorrect word choice or collocation, such as 'modern businesses usually used highlight' (should be 'usually highlight') and 'numerous amount of choices' (should be 'a large number of choices'). The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'marketing campaigns' and 'social pressure', but the overall control is inconsistent. Spelling errors, such as 'todays' (missing apostrophe) and 'soo', also detract from the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('it encourage', 'it create', 'it also developed'), incorrect pluralization ('these type of content'), and missing articles or incorrect prepositions. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. The student needs to focus on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common grammatical slips.

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