Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-05

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)

It is a positive thing that businesses claim in their advertisements that their products are new. The reason is that majority of the people love innovation these days. Moreover, many people want to get advantage of new technologies which are introduced through new products. When a person uses same product for a long period of time, he often starts feeling bored. For example, if a person uses laptop or mobile phone with same features and design for a long period of time, he often gets bored and looks for a product w In addition, it has become compulsory for businesses to innovate with the passage of time according to demands of public and growing technology to survive in modern markets where competition is high. The companies which do not innovate according to market demands can not stand in the modern competitive market which has diversity. Companies should also focus on making the products durable and long-lasting because better-quality attracts costumers. Better-quality also helps to win trust of people on specific products which is essential for the reputation of a brand or company. Furthermore, in this era of Artificial Intelligence, it has become easier for brands to improve standards of their products and get new ideas. Most people look for updated products with modern technology rather than outdated product. Also, new products often come with new features which make the product more useful and user-friendly than previous products. Innovation in products attract more customers and people who have more knowledge about technology. In this way, new products are beneficial in the advertisement of a product.

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 an opinion on whether this is positive or negative. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive. For instance, the argument that consumers get bored and want new technology is restated in different ways throughout the text. While the position is clear, the supporting examples—such as the mention of laptops—are quite generic. To reach a higher band, you should aim to explore the implications of this trend more deeply, perhaps by discussing the environmental impact of planned obsolescence or the psychological pressure on consumers, rather than focusing primarily on the functional benefits of innovation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into a single block of text, which significantly hinders coherence. Proper paragraphing is essential for an IELTS essay to separate the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. While you use some cohesive devices like 'Moreover', 'In addition', and 'Furthermore', the flow between sentences is occasionally mechanical. The transition between the discussion of why businesses innovate and the secondary point about product durability is abrupt. To improve, you must use clear paragraph breaks to signal a shift in focus and ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that guides the reader through your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some relevant terms such as 'innovation', 'competitive market', 'user-friendly', and 'artificial intelligence'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is a reliance on basic phrasing. For example, you use 'new' and 'products' repeatedly. To achieve a higher score, you should incorporate more precise collocations and a wider variety of synonyms to avoid repetition. Additionally, there is a minor error in the phrase 'get advantage of', which should be 'take advantage of'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical inaccuracies. For example, 'majority of the people' should be 'the majority of people', and 'can not stand' is better expressed as 'cannot survive' or 'cannot compete'. There are also minor issues with article usage (e.g., 'uses laptop' instead of 'uses a laptop'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. You should focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to improve accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.