Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-22

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)

Nowadays, businesses often emphasisein their advertisements that their products are new or improved in some way. This is mainly because companies want to attract customers and increase thieir sales . In my opinion, this is a positive development, altough it can have some disadvantages.

There are several reasons why businesses focus on new products. First, the people are usually interested in new things, so advertising a product as new can attract attention. For example, a company may introduce a new mobile phone with better features, such as na improved camera or longer battery life. Secondly, this strategy helps businesses compete with other companies and increase their profits. As a result, customers may believe that a new product and better quality and they will be used.

I believe this trend is generally positive because competition encourage companies to increase their products. As a result, customers can benefit for better technology , higher quality and more choices. For instance, competition among mobile phone companies has led to improvement in camera, better technology and high internet speed. However, excessive advertising can encourage people to new products simply because they are described at new.

In conclusion, businesses highlight the new features of their product to attract their customers, compete with other companies and increase their sales. Overall, I believe this is a positive development because it encourages innovation and consumers more choices.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the task by explaining why businesses emphasise new products and giving an opinion on whether this is a positive or negative development. The position is clear throughout, and relevant ideas are presented, such as attracting customers and driving innovation. However, the ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, particularly in the final body paragraph. Furthermore, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 228 words, which falls short of the 250-word minimum specified in the instructions. This has a direct negative impact on the overall task achievement score. To reach a higher band, the student must expand their arguments with more detailed explanations and ensure the word count requirement is fully satisfied.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'First', 'Secondly', 'As a result', and 'For instance' are used to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical. For instance, the sentence 'As a result, customers may believe that a new product and better quality and they will be used' contains a confusing reference and awkward transition. Additionally, paragraphing could be managed more effectively to ensure a smoother logical progression between the advantages and disadvantages discussed in the third paragraph.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'emphasise', 'advertisements', 'innovation', and 'excessive advertising'. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are accompanied by noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'thieir' instead of 'their', 'altough' although, 'na improved' an improved, and 'benefit for' benefit from. Additionally, phrases like 'described at new' instead of 'described as new' indicate lapses in collocation and control. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional-like structures and relative clauses (e.g., 'businesses often emphasise in their advertisements that their products are new...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, such as missing articles ('the people are usually interested'), incorrect prepositions, and faulty clause structures (e.g., 'competition encourage companies' where the verb does not agree with the singular noun, and 'a new product and better quality' which lacks a verb). While these errors rarely completely obscure the meaning, their frequency prevents the response from achieving a higher band. Punctuation also requires attention, particularly around spacing and commas.

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