Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-02

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 6.0)

In today's era, processed food and beverages contain excessive amount of sugar which makes these foods unhealthy and have some severe impacts on human health. Some people believe that government should impose taxes to make them more expensive to reduce consumption.

To begin with, manufactured food products are indeed unhealthy and contain large amounts of sugar and there are many factors that contribute in their heavy consumption such as availability, cheap and wide variety. Furthermore, sugary products should be made expensive through various strategies, the best one can be imposing additional taxes based on sugar levels. This way people may shift from unhealthy foods to healthy like fruit or home-cooked meals instead. For instance, there are some countries which have ready tried and succeeded, countries like France and United Kingdom, they introduced taxes on processed food products, as a result, consumption was reduced.

However, others argue that manufactured food and beverages are vital for lower earners and introducing new taxes can impact them. And this can be seen as government interfering people's lives. In addition, Taxes can not solve the issue right away, there are some better options exist which government can adopt such as spreading awareness and promoting education about health and unhealthy food products in public. For example, government institutions can begin awareness campaigns in educational institutions, corporations and public places.

In conclusion, after briefly and thoroughly examining both points about making manufactured food and drink products expensive through taxes. I firmly think that government should focus on this industry and impose additional taxes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt. You clearly state your position in the introduction and maintain it throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant, such as the mention of taxes in France and the UK, and the counter-argument regarding lower-income earners. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the discussion on 'awareness campaigns' is a bit brief. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully explained with more depth or a more detailed example. Overall, the response is well-focused and directly answers the question.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'To begin with,' 'Furthermore,' 'However,' and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader. While the progression is generally clear, some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Additionally, there are minor issues with referencing; for example, in the second paragraph, 'countries like France and United Kingdom' could be linked more smoothly to the previous sentence. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and the central ideas are easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task. You use topic-specific terms like 'processed food,' 'consumption,' and 'awareness campaigns.' However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'ready tried' (should be 'already tried') and 'interfering people's lives' (should be 'interfering in people's lives'). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and less common lexical items to express your ideas with greater precision and variety.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'government should impose' (missing 'the'), 'there are some better options exist' (should be 'there are some better options that exist'), and 'after briefly and thoroughly examining... I firmly think' (the introductory phrase is a fragment). These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to improve your accuracy.

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