Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-26
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, certain businesses choose to advertise their brand and products in a way that it is distinct and unique in some prespective. While this trend bring certain positive advantages, I beleive that it also brings some disadvantages making it both the positive and negative development.
On the one hand, in previous centeuries businesses used to take significant amount of time to grow and lead because there were not any sort of advertisement and marketing practices. But nowadays with technology number of businesses advertise their distinct products in unique ways that affects their audience psychologically and they try to feel audience that their product is different in some aspect. Due to which target audience purchase their products and businesses gain profit and trust. For instance, a company can advertise their headsets by incorporating any unique feature that others do not have in the market or by offering discounts.
Alternatively, it brings some disadvantages because sometimes businesses use paid promotions, ads and fake positive reviews that mislead the customers. Moreover, businesses make fake web pages through which they require advance payment which often leads to frauds and scams. For instance, a person purchases something after inspiring from fake reviews and promotions and pays advance and then does not get the product or product of worst quality.
To conclude, i would say this is both the positive and negative develoment. If businesses offer all the legit items and incorporate useful featues then they should advertise that their product is unique and this can bring substantial advantages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing why businesses emphasise that their products are new and evaluating whether this is a positive or negative development. A clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. The student develops main ideas well, such as psychological marketing effects, business profits, and the counter-argument regarding fake reviews and scams. Examples are provided to support the arguments, such as companies advertising unique headset features. However, some ideas remain slightly under-developed and could benefit from further extension to reach higher descriptor levels, leading to a solid band 6.0 performance overall.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing separating the introduction, the positive viewpoint, the negative viewpoint, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Alternatively', 'Moreover', and 'To conclude' are employed to guide the reader through the text, although some transitions feel somewhat mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, though occasional awkward phrasing in transitions slightly disrupts the natural flow of ideas. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, satisfying the requirements for a band 6.0 score.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common lexical items such as 'psychologically', 'promotions', and 'substantial advantages'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('prespective', 'beleive', 'centeuries', 'develoment') and minor word choice inaccuracies ('making it both the positive and negative development' instead of 'a positive and negative development'). While these errors do not impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to a band 6.0, as they indicate some inconsistency in accurate production.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses. There are instances of grammatical control, but frequent minor errors in articles, prepositions, and verb forms occur, such as 'that it is distinct' and 'after inspiring from fake reviews'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, though lowercase 'i' is used for the pronoun 'I' in the final paragraph. Because the mix of structures features regular errors that occasionally distract the reader without fully impeding understanding, a band 6.0 is appropriate.
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