Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-09

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)

Some consumers are nowadays increasingly choosing to buy goods that are produced in their local area, rather to buy from the international stores. In my opinion, this is a positive impact, I will explain this in my essay with examples.

To begin with, when people order something online from the local market it gives so many advantages. For instance, costumer don't have to wait for so long. If there is any issue with the item they can easily return it in a very short time period.

In addition to that, local purchases can make life easier you can try them right away and exchanged the colour, size and print whenever you want. Besides, local area goods always makes the economy of the country strong because in that way they can save their money for import also they can invest more in exporting businesses.

Finally, the advantages of buying from the local area where we live are more than the disadvantages. Also, its fine sometimes if you just want to buy something international from other online stores but you can also share ideas of those specific kind to the local vendors so they can start working on making new items like that.

In conclusion to that, customers always wanted a unique and different style items that never seen or wore by anyone before. I think local marketers and industries should work on that making more high quality and unique items so people can spent most of their money on shopping on the local areas.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for buying local and the opinion on whether it is a positive trend. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, the argument regarding the economy is mentioned but not fully explained or supported with specific evidence. The position is clear, but the supporting points lack depth and detail, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. To improve, you should expand on your points with more concrete examples or logical explanations rather than listing several brief advantages.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'In addition to that' and 'Finally'. There are also issues with referencing; for instance, in the second paragraph, 'them' is used without a clear antecedent. The flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed, making the progression of ideas feel a bit forced. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to specific nouns would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'make life easier' and 'good' are used frequently, which limits the precision of your arguments. There are also some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'local area goods' instead of 'locally produced goods' or 'local marketers' instead of 'local businesses'. To achieve a higher score, you should aim to incorporate more topic-specific vocabulary related to economics and consumer behaviour, and work on using more sophisticated synonyms to avoid repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('local area goods always makes') and tense inconsistencies ('customers always wanted'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma splices and missing articles. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of sentence construction, particularly regarding verb forms and pluralisation.

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

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