Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-03

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)

It has been observed that foods and drinks these days are having high amounts of sugar which eventually cause many health problems .I totally agree that sugary products must be high of cost in-order to discourage people on consuming sugary items.

The foremost argument to justify my stand is that sugars are one of the main reason for diabetes in the world wide. Diabetes have no cure which causes millions of deaths to cite an instance, my grandfather used to have sweet-tooth and used to consume a lot of sugary items which led to diabetes at the age of 30 and as a result death at the age of 50.

Furthermore, high sugars in edible items results in obesity which results in many health issues for example, in a survey taken place in US shows majority of individuals who have obesity have high risk of facing heart related issues in future.

In my opinion making the sugary products pricey will motivate people to consume less sugary items and also fast-food centres will reduce the usage of sugars in their food items therefore citizens will be healthy.

In conclusion, I completely agree with making sugary foods and drinks more costly and it will be beneficial for all the people as well as encourages both consumers and also sellers of these sugary edibles to limit sugars in the foods. Reducing sugars results in decrease in majority of health issues like diabetes and obesity which cause organ failures, heart issues and consequently death.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The arguments regarding health consequences like diabetes and obesity are relevant, and the suggestion of price increases is linked to consumer behavior. However, the development is somewhat limited; the personal anecdote about your grandfather is a bit anecdotal for an academic essay, and the explanation of how price increases would specifically influence fast-food chains could be more detailed. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting points are fully extended with more analytical depth rather than relying on brief statements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'In my opinion', and 'In conclusion' to link your points. However, the use of these devices is occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive. Additionally, the referencing within sentences is sometimes a bit clunky, such as 'in a survey taken place in US shows', which disrupts the flow. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'obesity', 'diabetes', and 'edible items'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and awkward collocations, such as 'high of cost' instead of 'expensive' or 'high-priced', and 'sweet-tooth' used as a noun phrase in a way that feels slightly unnatural. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and avoid repeating the same words (like 'sugary') too frequently within the same paragraph.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of your writing. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('sugars are one of the main reason', 'Diabetes have no cure'), missing articles ('in US'), and awkward phrasing ('in-order to discourage people on consuming'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your argument, they are noticeable and occur throughout the text. Increasing your control over basic grammar and punctuation will help improve your score.

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

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