Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-25

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)

Today, many businesses emphasize in their advertisements that their products are new. They do this to attract more customers by advertising heavily on digital platforms. I believe this is a negative development because some companies sell old items under the guise of being new. However, this strategy does offer certain advantages for businesses as well.

To begin with, many bussineses stress on advertising their items on different digital platforms to generate higher sales of their products. They usually do advertisements of some old items which are not sold out yet on their physical outlets. That's why they advertise them on digital plaforms like Facebook, OLX, Youtube and Instagram. They sell them as new products.

It is affecting the general public of the country. Because they are spending too much money on useless items. Initially, they thought that it will be a new product. But after delivering of the product, they actually know the reality of the product. It is wasting the money of innocent citizens. The trust of people on actual brands is venting out day by day. It is affecting the modern businesses of the future. It is exacerbating the future of e-commerce. This kind of behaviour by some businesses is spreading detrimental effects on future online shopping.

However, the businesses who are doing this are generating too much revenue through the sales of old items. It is benefiting many businesses through this way. Huge amounts of profit are being generated by advertising the old products on the label of a new product.

In conclusion, promoting of items is good for businesses to generate huge profits. However, it has detrimental effects on some customers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that the practice is negative, and you identify a relevant harm: customers may pay for products they believe are new but later discover are old. You also address why businesses do it by noting the revenue they can generate. However, the explanation of why novelty is emphasised is narrow: it focuses mainly on advertising old stock online, rather than explaining broader motives such as attracting attention, competing with other brands, or encouraging purchases. The positive side is acknowledged, but only briefly, and the examples are general rather than specific. Develop both the business rationale and your judgement with clearer explanation and a concrete example to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on customer harm, a paragraph on business benefits, and a conclusion. Sequencing is generally understandable, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “However,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the main direction. Some connections are less clear, though. The opening paragraph says businesses advertise heavily on digital platforms, while the next paragraph shifts to selling unsold physical stock without clearly explaining the link. Several short statements in the harm paragraph repeat the same consequence, and “It is affecting the modern businesses of the future” is vague. Group related points and use clearer references and transitions to show how each consequence follows from the previous one.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “generate higher sales,” “revenue,” “detrimental effects,” and “e-commerce.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “under the guise of being new.” However, the range is limited by repeated words and phrases, especially “old items/products,” “businesses,” and “affecting.” Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, including “stress on advertising,” “venting out” trust, and “on the label of a new product”; these can make the intended meaning less precise. Spelling errors such as “bussineses,” “plaforms,” and “Youtube” also reduce control. Aim for more precise collocations and vary repeated vocabulary while keeping the meaning exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You communicate the main points using mostly straightforward sentence patterns, and there are some attempts to connect clauses, for example, “I believe this is a negative development because…” and “However, the businesses who are doing this are generating…” The range remains limited, however, and several sentence-level errors affect accuracy. “Because they are spending too much money on useless items” is a fragment, while “after delivering of the product” has an incorrect grammatical construction. In “Initially, they thought that it will be a new product,” the tense sequence is inconsistent. There are also awkward sentence boundaries, such as the full stop before “Because.” Practise complete sentences, consistent tense choices, and varied clause structures, then proofread punctuation and articles.

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