Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-07

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some consumers are increasingly choosing to buy goods that are produced in their local area, rather than imported goods.

What are the reasons for this?

Is this a positive or a negative trend?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Products plays an indispensable role in every ones life. A number of customers are increasingly opt for purchasing products that are manufactured in their local areas, instead of imported goods. This essay will discuss the reason and behind this along with my own opinion in the upcoming paragraphs.

To begin with, people prefer to buy local product because it is cheap as compare to foreign goods. To explain, foreign goods are imported from different countries which charge lot of costs. For example, if someone wish to buy furniture from foreign country then it will charge huge money like cost of shipping plus tax. As a result, consumers may have to pay a much higher price for imported furniture, whereas locally produced furniture can be more affordable.

Moving further, consumer can not exchange or return the imported goods. To elaborate, it is not easy to give back foreign product if it is defective or not suitable to ones need. whereas locally produced products can be exchange easily. For instance, foreign cars are mostly imported to home countries but if it have some issue in it then its very hard to return the car. Thus, consumers may prefer to purchase locally produced goods because they can easily return or exchange them if they are defective or unsuitable.

To conclude,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the essay addresses the reasons for buying local goods, it fails to provide a conclusion or a clear discussion on whether the trend is positive or negative, as requested by the prompt. The ideas presented are somewhat repetitive and lack depth. Because the essay is incomplete and under-length, it cannot fully address all parts of the task, leading to a lower score in this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with' and 'Moving further' to structure the paragraphs. However, the progression of ideas is hindered by the abrupt ending and the lack of a concluding paragraph. Paragraphing is present, but the overall logical flow is interrupted by the incomplete nature of the text. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of a cohesive conclusion makes the overall structure feel disjointed and unfinished.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and sophistication. The student uses basic terms like 'cheap', 'huge money', and 'issue'. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'home countries' and 'charge lot of costs'. To reach a higher band, the student should aim for more precise collocations and a wider range of academic vocabulary. The current range is sufficient to convey meaning but does not demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('Products plays', 'consumer can not exchange') and pluralization ('every ones life', 'local product'). There are also issues with article usage and sentence structure. While the student attempts some complex sentences, they are often marred by errors that occasionally impede the flow. A greater focus on basic grammatical accuracy and proofreading is necessary to improve the score in this area.

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

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