Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-21
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)
In almost every country food and drinks with high sugar content are manufactured and sold. We knew that high sugar content in our diet may cause harmful effects to our health and I also agree that these products must be sold more expensive so people avoid to drink these products in this essay we will discuss it with the proper reasons.
As by the research its been proved that the major cause of weight gain in young generation is the only high level sugar products intake. Even from the school life in break almost every student buy soft drinks in which sugar level is very high so the first thing we have to do is to ban these soft drinks for the young age students and for the elder ones they must be taught enough to know all the negative affects of drinking that products.
But to only restrict the sale its have no benefit but we should promote the usage of natural organic juices and shakes without sugar so they have something to drink and its also have so many positive affect on our health. These products not only increase your weight but they also cause many other diseases like sugar and diabetes which may occur later in our old age. And another step is to increase the taxes on these high level sugar based products and processed food. But that's not enough the most important thing is to educate the people and to tell them the negative affects they had to face later.
In conclusion, I must say that the government take all the necessary measures against the consumption of high level sugar products.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by expressing a clear position in favor of increasing taxes on sugary products. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the essay touches on health consequences and the need for education, the arguments lack depth and specific supporting evidence. For instance, the suggestion to 'ban' soft drinks for students is a strong claim that is not fully explored or balanced against the economic implications mentioned in the prompt. The conclusion is also quite brief and does not effectively summarize the main points discussed. To improve, you should aim to provide more detailed explanations and concrete examples to support your arguments.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the flow between ideas is often mechanical. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'and' to connect sentences. Transitions between paragraphs are weak, making the progression of ideas feel disjointed. For example, the shift from discussing school-age children to the general population is abrupt. Improving the use of linking words (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'in contrast') would help create a more logical and fluid structure throughout the essay.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. There is a reliance on basic terms like 'good', 'bad', and 'things'. Some word choices are inaccurate, such as 'sugar and diabetes' (diabetes is the condition, not sugar) and 'sold more expensive' (should be 'sold at a higher price'). To reach a higher band, you should incorporate more topic-specific vocabulary related to health, economics, and public policy, and work on using collocations more naturally.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'its have no benefit'), incorrect preposition usage, and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'avoid to drink'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with run-on sentences. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors suggests a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of complex sentence construction to improve accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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