Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14

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 their publicity, businesses are currently presenting their products in a new way because right now, new items emerge every day. People generally do this to increase the hype of their product. Consequently, this increases the sales of their products, which, in my view, is a positive development.

Many businesses advertise their new products in such a fashion that increases their sales. Changing the strategy will boost their sales. For instance, several food chains in Lahore publicize their products by including the younger generation in their ads, ultimately influencing young people, and it becomes a trend. This trend increases the demand for their food items. It is a good thing to scale your business by promoting young people.

I believe that this is a positive approach to boost your business by changing the presentation. Nowadays, it is becoming a trend, and every businessman is following this. Customers also like this strategy because, in this era of social media, many people purchase trending items to show off. My friends, for example, visit KFC every weekend and post their food snaps on TikTok and Facebook just to inform us that they are eating trending food. Another factor is copyright, because many products relate to each other in terms of the ingredients used to manufacture them. Many businessmen use catchy names to attract customers, even though the product is already available in the market with a different name. This also increases the sales of their product.

Taking all points into consideration, I believe that businessmen should change their strategy of advertising, which will consequently boost their businesses. Furthermore, it will help local customers to get to know about the different types of products and can choose easily according to their needs.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing why businesses emphasise new products and offering a clear personal opinion that it is a positive development. The position is maintained throughout the essay. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, particularly in terms of depth. For instance, the point regarding copyright and ingredients is introduced briefly without clear expansion. While the writer attempts to support points with examples, such as food chains in Lahore or friends visiting KFC, the reasoning remains simplistic and lacks the analytical depth expected in higher bands. Therefore, the response aligns best with Band 6 descriptors, as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant ideas, though some are under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to organise information into paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the topic. Logical progression is evident as the essay moves from introduction to reasons, personal examples, and a conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For example, transitional phrases like 'Consequently', 'For instance', and 'Taking all points into consideration' are used, but referencing within and between sentences is occasionally repetitive ('their products', 'boost their sales'). Paragraphing is present, but the body paragraphs could be structured more effectively to group related ideas. These features place the response firmly in Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'publicity', 'hype', 'presentation', and 'copyright'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'increase the hype of their product' rather than 'build hype around their product', and 'many products relate to each other' instead of 'products are similar to one another'. Spelling is generally accurate, and errors do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the argument without difficulty. This balance of an adequate range with some imprecise word choice corresponds directly to Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'which, in my view, is a positive development' and 'businesses that increase their sales'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present, such as 'People generally do this to increase the hype of their product' and 'help local customers to get to know about the different types of products and can choose easily'. Despite these errors in grammar and punctuation, they rarely impede communication, and the meaning remains clear throughout. Because of the mix of structures alongside frequent minor errors, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate.

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

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