Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-25

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 6.5)

It if often argued that, some high levels of sugar containing manufactured food and drink items causing heart issues should be made more expensive to discourage consumers to buy them. I disagree with this view because it will badly affect the businesses producing them and people who can afford expensive products would still buy them.

One of the significant drawbacks of this idea is the potential profitability loss of such businesses. A large number of such businesses' market segments are price sensitive consumers, ranging from young to elderly people. When prices will increase of these daily commodities, the demand would significantly drop as price and demand have negative relationship. Consequently, the corporations would face huge financial loss and might struggle to attract new customers. Moreover, other competitors would take advantage of this by reducing their price to grab more consumers. For example, when Cocacola was boycotted by a large number of consumers over political disput, other beverage brands like 7up and Pepsi reduced their price to attract more consumers.

Another negative aspect of increasing price of such goods is that, rich consumers will not be discouraged by the decision and continue to buy them as before. As a result, a particular group of people will still have potential heart problems, making the whole strategy of surge in price a failure. If reducing health problem is the main reason behind the decision, companies and government should come together to reduce the level of sugar in manufactured food and drink items instead. For instance, products should be assessed base on how much sugar can be added and follow a strict regulation before reaching to the stores.

In conclusion, I largely disagree with the idea that prices of manufactured food and drink items should be increased to reduce sugar consumption as businesses would directly be financially affected losing customers and a particular group of people would still buy them which will continue the health problem to increase.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have clearly addressed the prompt by taking a firm stance against the proposed tax. Your position is consistent throughout the essay. You provide two main arguments: the economic impact on businesses and the limited effectiveness on wealthy consumers. These points are relevant and logically developed. To reach a higher band, you could further extend your ideas by discussing the potential benefits of the tax (e.g., government revenue for health campaigns) and then refuting them, which would demonstrate a more balanced and sophisticated approach to the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'consequently', 'moreover', and 'as a result' to link your ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing could be smoother. For instance, the transition between the economic argument and the behavioral argument is clear, but the paragraphing could be improved by ensuring each paragraph focuses on a single, distinct theme. Overall, the progression of ideas is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic, including terms like 'price sensitive', 'commodities', and 'regulations'. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'political disput' (spelling) and 'surge in price' (collocation). While you attempt to use less common items, the phrasing is sometimes slightly unnatural. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and ensuring spelling accuracy. Your vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the flexibility and precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'It if often argued' (typo), 'When prices will increase' (incorrect tense in a time clause), and 'the health problem to increase' (awkward phrasing). You have good control over basic structures, but your complex sentences often contain minor errors that prevent them from being fully accurate. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct tense usage in conditional sentences would help elevate your score.

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

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