Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-07

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Many manufactured food and drink products contain high levels of sugar, which causes many health problems. Sugary products should be made more expensive to encourage people to consume less sugar.

Do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Nowadays, many processed food and drink products consist of high level of sugar, which leads to many health problems. Sugary food and drink product’s cost should be more expensive so that people consume less sugar. I partly agree with this approach , because it would be a great approach to encourage people to eat less sugar, however, it would be unfair to low-income families.

One important reason why high-sugar products should be more expensive, is that this approach would discourage individuals to purchase these products .This is largely due to the fact that people after seeing the huge prices, begin to think about their financial capabilities . Take, for instance, increase prices on drinks, such as Coca-Cola , people got used to drink Coca-Cola routinely, however , if prices went up, people would think it twice before purchasing. Therefore, in the long-term this would have a significant impact on shifting individual’s harmful habits, for example switching from soda to water.

On the other hand ,There is one important disadvantage is that low-income families might suffer from this policy. This is because many families with limited financial means could not afforts to buy natural sweets ,since they are expensive . For instance , natural sweets , such as berries, nuts and fruits are often costly, and individuals who do not earn sufficiently and they also have to provide for their family may find its impossible to find an alternatives.

in conclusion, To sum up, although increasing costs of high-level sugar products may be useful to discourage people from consumption sugary foods and drinks, I believe this is not enough, due to the fact that many low-income families might suffer from this policy. Government should implement not only costly prices, they also have to decrease the costs to natural sweets, such as fruits and nuts.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and maintains a clear position throughout. You have provided a balanced view by acknowledging the benefits of a sugar tax while highlighting the socio-economic drawbacks for low-income families. The ideas are relevant and supported by examples, such as the mention of Coca-Cola and the cost of healthy alternatives like berries and nuts. To reach a higher band, ensure that your arguments are fully developed; for instance, you could elaborate more on how the government might subsidize healthy foods to make the policy more equitable, rather than just mentioning it in the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'Take, for instance,' 'On the other hand,' and 'This is largely due to the fact that' to connect ideas. However, there are some minor issues with punctuation and spacing, such as the extra space before the comma in 'approach ,' and the inconsistent capitalization at the start of sentences like 'in conclusion,'. Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring consistent paragraphing will help you achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'financial capabilities,' 'socio-economic,' and 'consumption.' However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'costly prices' (prices are high, not costly) and 'afforts to buy' (should be 'afford'). Additionally, 'natural sweets' is a slightly unnatural collocation for fruits and nuts. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure that your word forms are accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this level. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'product’s cost' (should be 'products' costs'), 'people got used to drink' (should be 'people are used to drinking'), and 'find its impossible' (should be 'find it impossible'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense usage.

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