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)

It is often argued by some people that in recent years, most businesses have tried to update their products. Although some people might consider it negative, I believe it to be completely beneficial. Not only because of customer attraction and new innovations, but also for better quality.

There are multiple benefits associated with the topic. Firstly, customer attraction is considered a leading benefit of this development. As

introducing new features and technologies always attracts customers. Take an example of Canada, the Saputo Inc. is one of leading company in Toronto, for producing different food products. There is only one reason behind this company's success, in 1994, the organization's authorities made an initiative about improvement in production and in the following years, the company's economic growth increased rapidly. Thus, this mega benefit, I believe has the potential to make this development a positive one.

Secondly, innovation can also be another major benefit. As it encourages businesses to make new inventions to improve and update their products in the market. For instance, in Japan, it is expected that by the year 2046, most of their food packaging companies will be successful in terms of finances and brand names, mainly because recently their officials made a decision to fund innovation projects, and through this development, their products would be relevant in society. Hence, this creativity can be labelled as the most significant advantage, giving this development a positive outlook.

Finally, providing better quality to consumers is another benefit of this development. As in cities, most people prefer quality, prices do not matter to them.

To sum up, even though keeping products updated is difficult, I believe that through customer attraction, innovation, and providing better quality, can make this development overall positive.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: explaining why businesses emphasize new products and providing an opinion on whether this is positive or negative. However, the development of ideas is uneven. While the first two body paragraphs provide examples, the third paragraph regarding 'better quality' is significantly underdeveloped, consisting of only one sentence. The examples provided, such as the reference to Saputo Inc. and the Japanese food packaging industry, are somewhat generic and lack a clear, direct link to the core argument of why 'newness' is emphasized in advertising. To reach a higher band, you should ensure each supporting point is fully explored with specific, logical reasoning rather than just stating the benefit.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Finally' to signal the progression of your argument. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical, and the flow between sentences is occasionally interrupted by sentence fragments or awkward phrasing, such as 'As introducing new features...' which is a dependent clause standing alone. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression within paragraphs could be smoother to ensure that each idea builds naturally upon the previous one.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'innovations', 'production', and 'food packaging'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is a reliance on repetitive phrasing, such as 'benefit of this development'. There are also minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'made an initiative about improvement' (should be 'took an initiative to improve') and 'mega benefit', which is too informal for an academic essay. Expanding your range of synonyms and using more precise academic collocations would improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with sentence fragments (e.g., 'As introducing new features and technologies always attracts customers.') and punctuation. There are also issues with article usage and subject-verb agreement, such as 'the Saputo Inc. is one of leading company' (should be 'one of the leading companies'). These errors do not generally impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher band score. Focusing on sentence completion and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy will be beneficial.

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

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