Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-22

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)

I largely disagree with the solution of this problem, that Many manufactured food and drink products contain high levels of sugar, which causes many health problems so sugary products should be made more expensive to encourage people to consume less sugar.

The consumption of sugar nowadays has grown too much, for example the sugary soft drinks, in today's time soft drinks is largely used in every house hold, causing diabetics and making people obese, sugar is now the main cause of fatty liver just after junk food.

Modern day diet is built around sugary products, such as candy, jelly drinks and refreshments. A lot of people consumes so many sugary products unnoticingly that they become expose to stage one diabetes, many people does not even recognise that they are facing of insulin resistant, resulting in face acne, weak bones density and inactive.

The idea of making sugary items expensive is not quite good in general, most of the basic necessary items including bread drinks and other packaged food items are the only way possible for the financially challenged folks to survive, making these sugary based items will definitely disturb the working class and people of needs in a pressure to survive in tough finances.

The solution to encourage people to use fewer sugary products is that we should create more products which has less sugar or using artificial sugar like diet cold drinks and sugar free biscuits does. Another way is that we spread awareness among the people to avoid unnecessary use of sugary products and teach them benefits of this and explain them the consequences for over dosage of high sugar.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position against the proposed tax. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you identify the health risks of sugar, the argument against the tax relies heavily on the impact on the 'financially challenged,' which is a relevant point but could be supported with more nuanced reasoning. The alternative solutions provided in the final paragraph are relevant but lack depth. To improve, ensure that each body paragraph focuses on a single, well-developed argument with specific examples or logical consequences, rather than listing several points briefly. The position is consistent, but the depth of analysis is more characteristic of a Band 5.5 or 6.0 response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or repetitive. For instance, the transition between the problem and the solution is abrupt. Some sentences are run-on or lack clear logical connectors, such as the opening sentence which is a long, slightly confusing restatement of the prompt. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the flow between ideas could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'furthermore,' 'consequently,' 'in contrast') to better signal the relationship between your arguments.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. You use basic terms like 'good' and 'bad' or repetitive phrases like 'sugary products.' There are also some noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'facing of insulin resistant' (should be 'facing insulin resistance') and 'in pressure to survive' (should be 'under pressure'). To reach a higher band, focus on using more academic collocations and precise terminology related to health and economics, and ensure that word forms (nouns vs. adjectives) are used correctly in context.

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 ('people consumes', 'many people does'), incorrect preposition usage, and awkward phrasing ('unnoticingly', 'over dosage of high sugar'). While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately without losing the intended meaning.

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

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