Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-20
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Nowadays it's possible for people to buy many products or pay for treatments that help them to look younger.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
In the modern world, products and treatments are readily available to make individuals look younger. Some people believe it is beneficial, while others believe it has negative impacts. I believe, it has both positive and negative impacts that I will discuss in the upcoming paragraphs.
To begin with the advantages, by using these products, people will look younger that will boost their confidence. In various sectors, the people are being judged by their age for their opinion and work. If they will look young, people will not be able to identify their age and will consider their views in all the aspects. Moreover, looking young also make them happy, it motivates them to stay fit and healthy as well as also inspire them to do more physical tasks rather than relying on anybody which will lead to less health problems.
On the other side, by using plenty of products and treatments will have bad impact on skin. Most of the products consist of chemicals, which cause allergy to skin. By using lot of toxic products, the skin and hair will loose their touch and will make people completely depend on products for any skincare.
To conclude, it has both positive and negative impacts. There should be a set limit to use these products in an effective way.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the positive and negative aspects of anti-ageing products and treatments. However, a major constraint is not met: the student's text contains only 217 words, falling well short of the 250-word minimum requirement. Consequently, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and under-developed, particularly in the concluding body paragraphs. The position is stated in the introduction, but the brevity prevents a fully extended discussion. Due to the word count penalty, the score is capped at Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is divided into logical paragraphs with a basic introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', and 'On the other side' are used to guide the reader, although referencing is occasionally imprecise, as seen in the phrase 'it has both positive and negative impacts that I will discuss in the upcoming paragraphs'. Paragraphing is present and mostly appropriate for the length of the text, but the overall progression feels somewhat mechanical.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully employing topic-related terms like 'treatments', 'confidence', 'chemicals', and 'skincare'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'hair will loose their touch' instead of 'lose their natural texture', and the misuse of 'loose' instead of 'lose'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the basic meaning, the persistent word-choice and spelling errors limit the score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional and relative clauses ('If they will look young, people will not be able...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward modal or tense usages, notably 'by using plenty of products and treatments will have bad impact' (missing subject/verb agreement and prepositional issues) and 'hair will loose their touch'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical control is inconsistent, impacting readability.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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