Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-22

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)

The preference for locally manufactured products to those that are imported has been on the increase in recent times.

This sudden choice for goods that are home made rather than foreign goods is due to the governments recent increment of import duty tax. Increase in the tax has made buying goods abroad quite expensive, for example buying a bag from China may cost just fifty dollars, but the tax on the bag to bring it into the country is ten times the amount spent in buying the bag.

On the bright side, this has resulted in the growth of local businesses. More consumption of local products means more production. In addtition, people now look into the possibility of exporting these products outside the country, which will turn result in the rise of the countries economy.

However, citizens are left with no alternatives, or the luxury of making choices when they need to make a purchase. They tend to use what they can get within their locality because they cannot outsource these items as they are extremely expensive.

The trend has greatly impacted the businesses, both large and small scale, jobs has become available, exportation has exceeded importation leading to the over all growth of the economy. There should also be measures put in place to subsidize some goods that cannot be gotten in the country, to avoid the usage of sub-standard materials.

To conclude, it is a welcolme development for consumers to purchase goods that are produced locally instead of foreign goods, this has enabled the economical growth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by identifying reasons for the trend towards local goods—specifically government import duties—and discussing whether it is a positive or negative development. Your position is clear throughout the essay. Ideas are generally relevant, but some points could be extended further. For instance, the example about the bag from China is clear and concrete, which strengthens your argument. However, the discussion of the negative aspects in the fourth paragraph touches upon consumers having no alternatives, but this is somewhat brief. Overall, you have covered both required prompt questions adequately, fulfilling the Band 6 descriptor criteria where all parts are addressed, though some ideas remain slightly under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

There is a logical overall arrangement to your essay, with an introduction, supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate different points, such as the reasons for the trend, the positive impacts, and the negative consequences. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transition phrases like 'In addtition' contain spelling errors, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'The trend has greatly impacted the businesses' appearing abruptly without sufficient linking. While the logical progression is generally maintained, the cohesive devices and paragraph transitions require more precision to reach a higher band level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate your main ideas about local manufacturing and import duties. You attempt some less common vocabulary items such as 'import duty tax', 'sub-standard materials', and 'economical growth'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'home made' (homemade), 'addtition' (addition), 'countries economy' (country's economy), 'welcolme' (welcome), and 'gotten' (obtained). Additionally, 'economical growth' should be 'economic growth'. These inaccuracies restrict the lexical score to Band 5, as they occasionally cause slight friction for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional and relative clauses ('...buying a bag from China may cost just fifty dollars, but the tax...'). There are, however, several grammatical errors and punctuation slips present throughout the response. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('jobs has become available' instead of 'jobs have become available') and run-on structures in the conclusion ('...instead of foreign goods, this has enabled...'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, their frequency prevents the essay from achieving a Band 6, placing it firmly at Band 5 due to frequent grammatical slips.

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

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