Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-16

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)

Habit of buying things is increased by buyers but their inclement is more to purchase locally produced product rather than buying international products. In this paragraphs, I will discuss the main causes behind this approach and why I think it is negative trend.

On the one hand, the primary factor is heavy tax. To explain it, the local population know if they will purchase oversea items then they have to pay extra for Tariff and GST/HST along with item's actual price. For example, if anyone buy a $500 U.S. made product in Canada then consumer has to pay Canadian HST, although a specific exemptions and personal exemptions can apply. Secondly, people living in that area believes that they can not get fresh food if they will go to purchase imported goods. Therefore, as the perspective of healthy and fresh eatables they do not prefer to purchase imported things.

On the other hand, one of the significant cons is that local resident can not get knowledge about other countries' food. For instance, if Indian wants to have taste of Korean food but due to the fear of paying heavy tax they can not perceive information of foreign made products. As a result, at a point they can feel bore from their daily basis meals. Lastly, it can put burden on local workers to meet demands of users. Therefore, they should not avoid to purchase international goods.

In conclusion, although purchasing local products is pocket friendly for people but it can be proved disadvantage for the them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for buying local and the opinion on whether it is a positive or negative trend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. The argument regarding 'heavy tax' is a valid point, but the explanation is slightly confusing, and the example provided is quite specific rather than illustrative of a general trend. The second body paragraph attempts to discuss the downsides, but the reasoning—that people cannot learn about other cultures due to taxes—is not entirely logical or well-supported. To improve, you should provide more robust, universally applicable arguments and ensure your position is clearly maintained throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion'. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the logical progression within paragraphs is occasionally weak. For example, the transition from discussing food freshness to the conclusion of the first paragraph is abrupt. Additionally, some referencing is unclear, such as the use of 'they' in the final paragraph, which makes it difficult to determine exactly who is being referred to. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring clear pronoun references would enhance the coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. There are several instances of awkward phrasing or incorrect word choices, such as 'inclement' (which is misused here), 'eatables', and 'perceive information'. The phrase 'feel bore' is grammatically incorrect and should be 'feel bored'. While you attempt to use some topic-specific vocabulary like 'Tariff' and 'GST/HST', the overall range is limited. To achieve a higher score, focus on using more natural collocations and avoiding word-choice errors that occasionally hinder the clarity of your message.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'people... believes'), article usage (e.g., 'the perspective of healthy'), and sentence construction (e.g., 'if Indian wants to have taste'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the errors in grammar are persistent and occasionally make the reader pause to interpret the intended meaning. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence patterns, ensuring subject-verb agreement, and proofreading for common errors like missing articles or incorrect verb forms.

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

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