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)
In the contemporary marketplace, promoting and highlighting their products in advertisements has become increasingly common. This phenonmenon is driven by consumer preference and market competition. As my perspective ,it is largely negative development.
The drivers behind the highlighting the products in ads are multifacted. Chief among these is that people are not only attracted towards the latest technology and used it as a status symbol. For example, evey year, Apple launch the new iphone by upgrading there features such as video quality, modifications in battery, screen. Majority of inhabitats purchase it as a status symbol to demonstrate their wealth and modernity.
On the contrary, it also has plethora of negative drawbacks that should not be overlooked. the most significant demerit is that it is a wastage of money due to the fact that people would prefer to replace functional products with new ones.
for examples, Many people change their smartphones annually despite their told products are working properly. Another disadvantage is that while people are contacted with upgraded features of new technology, it contributes to unnecessary financial burden on middle class families who feel pressured to keep up with trends. Last but not least, it leads to environmental degardation becuase of constant cycling of buy new items and discarding of old ones.
To conclude, Although it may drive innovation, its contribution predominantely negative to overconsumption and deceptive marketing.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing why businesses emphasise new products and giving a clear personal opinion that this is a negative development. Ideas are relevant, mentioning status symbols, financial burdens, and environmental degradation. However, the response falls short of the required 250 words, containing only 228 words, which imposes a penalty on Task Achievement. Furthermore, some ideas like the environmental impact are rather briefly stated and could be extended further. Based on these limitations, the task is addressed partially in terms of length and development.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is structured into distinct paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices are attempted, such as 'On the contrary', 'For example', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and transitions are sometimes clumsy, as seen in the abrupt shift at 'for examples, Many people...' and minor issues with paragraph flow. Overall, there is a coherent arrangement, but referencing is occasionally unclear and mechanical.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate to the topic, including terms like 'contemporary marketplace', 'status symbol', and 'environmental degradation'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('phenonmenon', 'evey', 'inhabitats', 'degardation', 'becuase') and word-formation errors ('predominantely', 'buy new items'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, these frequent lexical and spelling errors hinder precision and fluency.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'As my perspective ,it is largely negative development' and 'while people are contacted with upgraded features...'. However, there are frequent grammatical and mechanical errors, including missing articles, incorrect prepositions, and tense inconsistencies (e.g., 'used it as a status symbol', 'Apple launch', 'their told products'). Punctuation spacing is also erratic. These errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader.
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