Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-16

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 5.0)

It is often noticed that food and drink products contain high level of sugar, which causes many health related issues. It is advised that these products should be made more expensive to encourage people not to consume more sugar products. I strongly agree with this statement because it is essential to avoid drinking high sugar drinks and food because it would helpful to reduce the amount of sugar products among people.

The primary reason for introducing a foreign language at an early age is that children are generally more capable of absorbing new sounds, vocabulary and grammatical patterns. Unlike older students, they are often less concerned about making mistakes and therefore have more opportunities to practise speaking. For example, a child who is exposed to English through classroom activities, stories and conversations from an early age can gradually develop pronunciation and fluency without feeling excessive pressure. Consequently, starting language education in primary school can establish a strong linguistic foundation that is difficult to achieve through a shorter period of study later in life.

Another significant advantage is that early language education can broaden children’s social and cultural understanding. Learning another language exposes students to different traditions, perspectives and ways of communicating, which can make them more open-minded and comfortable interacting with people from diverse backgrounds. For instance, children who regularly communicate with classmates from different cultural communities may develop greater respect for cultural differences.

In conclusion, I strongly agree that foreign-language education should begin at primary school. Early exposure enables children to develop linguistic skills more naturally and can also foster cultural awareness and provide valuable opportunities for their future education and careers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 2.0

The response is completely off-topic. While the introduction briefly mentions the topic of sugar taxation, the entire body of the essay discusses the benefits of teaching foreign languages to children. Because the essay fails to address the prompt regarding sugar consumption and taxation, it cannot be assessed as a relevant response to the task. The ideas presented are entirely irrelevant to the prompt provided, resulting in a failure to address the core requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is internally coherent in terms of its own topic (foreign language education), with clear paragraphing and logical progression. It uses cohesive devices such as 'The primary reason', 'Another significant advantage', and 'In conclusion' effectively. However, because the content is irrelevant to the prompt, the overall structure fails to serve the purpose of the task. The score reflects the ability to organize text logically, even though the subject matter is entirely disconnected from the prompt.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally appropriate for an academic essay. Phrases like 'absorbing new sounds', 'linguistic foundation', and 'foster cultural awareness' demonstrate a good range of vocabulary. There is an attempt to use topic-specific language related to education. While the vocabulary is sufficient for the level of writing produced, it is not applied to the actual task prompt, which limits the demonstration of range relevant to the specific topic of health and taxation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The student demonstrates a good command of sentence structure, using a mix of simple and complex sentences. Examples such as 'Unlike older students, they are often less concerned about making mistakes and therefore have more opportunities to practise speaking' show good control of complex grammar. There are very few grammatical errors, and the writing is clear and easy to follow. The range of structures is sufficient for a higher band, but the score is constrained by the fact that the writing does not address the task.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.