Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Nowadays, advertisements help businesses to promote themselves by providing a massive audience and boosting the demand for products in the consumer market. Large-scale industries use consumer psychology in their ads and manipulate their buyers by displaying new products in a way that seems superior to the previous ones, but in fact it is a mere cosmetic change but not an essential one. This drives up the sales of any industry but in the long term, it is detrimental to human well-being as well as for the environment.

The competition in the manufacturing industry has escalated in the past few decades, this compels various industries to promote their businesses as much as they can and for that reason, advertisements have become the premier medium to showcase their products among a larger audience. However, this also means that the product has to stand out among thousand of the competitors. To cope with this issue, manufacturers emphasize that their products have something advanced and new, when new feature is just a tiny change in the design or a mere upgrade. For instance, tech giants showcase their AI integrated devices so that they can feature their advancements in the modern technology when in reality that upgrade is the exact same as it was in the previous models.

This manipulative behavior creates complications not only for humans but also for nature. This creates unnecessary need for the so-called advanced products among humans, consequently, they throw the old perfectly functioning appliances and gadgets to buy the new ones that are, in fact, exact replicas of the previous products. Resultantly, these activities promote dumping of useful machinery in the society. Moreover, these products are thrown in landfills, hence produce pollution and severely affect the environment.

To conclude, the promotion of these ads by the industries raises serious concerns on human psychology and also leads to escalating environmental pollution. Ultimately, this causes serious damage not only to human well-being but also to natural world.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt: it explains why businesses emphasize 'newness' (competition and consumer psychology) and provides a clear position that this is a negative development. The ideas are well-developed, particularly the link between marketing tactics and environmental waste. The argument is consistent throughout the essay. To reach a higher band, the student could provide more nuanced examples or explore the potential 'positive' side of innovation briefly before refuting it, which would demonstrate a more balanced and sophisticated approach to the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the reasons for the trend from the consequences. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'For instance', and 'Moreover' are used appropriately to guide the reader. There is a slight mechanical feel to some transitions, and occasionally the flow between sentences could be smoother, but the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with precision. Phrases like 'cosmetic change', 'tech giants', and 'manipulative behavior' show an ability to use topic-specific language effectively. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'promote dumping of useful machinery in the society' (which sounds slightly unnatural), but these do not impede communication. The vocabulary is generally accurate and appropriate for an academic context, showing a good level of flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While there are some grammatical slips—such as 'when new feature is just a tiny change' (missing an article) and 'as well as for the environment' (parallelism issue)—the majority of sentences are error-free. The punctuation is generally sound, and the errors present do not cause any difficulty for the reader. To improve, the student should focus on article usage and ensuring parallel structure in complex lists.

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

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