Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-11
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)
Businesses usually focus on the innovation of their product. This is the strategy to promote a business or sell a product. In markets, there is a lot of competition these days. One product has hundred of marketing agencies. Audiences need something new and something different then the other product. So if everyone stop saying that there product is different then they will lose the audience. This marketing strategy is necessary to grab the attention of audience. For-example, if i talk about skin care products, there are thousands of skin care brands and almost every brand promoting their products by saying it will target your complexion, pigmentation etc. In this way audience start confusing about the purchase of product. So, if one skin care brand start saying that this product is different from others as it has no harsh chemicals and it is mercury and steroid free it will automatically attract the clients. So according to me this thing has negative development because in the process of making innovative people start lying and start claiming those things that does not existed and they actually scam the audience. It basically had negative impact on people as they start buying their products but they do not give them satisfactory results. Firstly it is a loss of money and secondly it break the trust of audience. Audience become so confused right now that they do not know what to buy and what to left. To make it easy, people should stop becoming extra innovative.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: explaining why businesses emphasize innovation and providing an opinion on whether this is positive or negative. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While the explanation for why companies use this strategy is clear, the discussion regarding the negative impact is repetitive and lacks depth. The argument that innovation leads to lying is a strong point, but it is not fully explored with broader examples or nuanced reasoning. The position is clear, but the supporting arguments would benefit from more detailed elaboration to reach a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay is organized into a single block of text, which significantly hinders the logical flow and readability. Paragraphing is essential for IELTS Task 2 to separate the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. While there are some cohesive devices used, such as 'Firstly' and 'So', the transitions between ideas are often mechanical or abrupt. The lack of clear paragraph structure makes the progression of ideas feel disjointed, which limits the score for this criterion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. The student relies on basic, repetitive phrasing such as 'something new', 'different', and 'confused'. There are also some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'does not existed' (should be 'do not exist') and 'what to left' (should be 'what to leave'). To improve, the student should incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary related to marketing and consumer behavior.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('everyone stop saying', 'brand start saying'), incorrect verb forms ('does not existed'), and punctuation errors. While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of these errors prevents the writing from achieving a higher score. More attention to verb tenses and pluralization is needed.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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