Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-29

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)

There has been a considerable debate about the increase in the sugar intake due to the food and and drinks consumed nowadays.

There has been an influx of parties and meetings recently and the mutual elements of these gatherings are food and drinks. Many easy to serve and make items contain high levels of sugar. People nowadays don't have the time because of their hectic schedules, to make food and drinks while being conscious about their health benefits. Thus a quick solution for this is to bring store brought, easy to make products and just serve them instead. Essentially others see sugary products as a way to unwind themselves. The sugar rush provides them with a high which their tired body longs for after an exhaustive day at work or home.

Contray to this, there are a few individuals who try to change their eating habits and incorporate healthier options in their diet. The biggest challenge they face are the lack of products. Many food items do not contain healthier eating options. For instance if a person has a craving for a brownie, there won't be many options available for sugar-free items. Another major concern is the price of these sugar-free products. The cost of these items are generally heavier on the pocket as opposed to the sugary products.

I believe that the sugary products should not be made more expensive. Many people rely on sugary items for their health. Diabetic patients tend to carry lot of sugary products incase they experience hypoglycemia. It would be extremely unfair to them to make suagry products expensive. A better option would be to make non-sugar items readily available and decrease their cost.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear stance against increasing the price of sugary products. However, the development of ideas in the body paragraphs is somewhat tangential. For example, discussing the general reasons why people consume sugar, or the lack of sugar-free brownies, does not directly build a cohesive argument regarding the core proposition of taxation or pricing policies. A major logical misstep occurs in the final paragraph, where the writer asserts that diabetic patients rely on sugary items for hypoglycemia; while true for glucose tablets, framing everyday manufactured sugary foods and drinks as a medical necessity for diabetics conflates different dietary categories. Consequently, the task is addressed only partially, earning a Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement, and paragraphing is attempted, though some paragraphs mix distinct ideas (such as parties, time constraints, and unwinding all in one paragraph). Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, but transitions are sometimes mechanical or awkward, such as starting a paragraph with 'Contray to this' (containing a spelling error). Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the progression between sentences in the second paragraph where the link between parties and store-bought snacks is abrupt. Logical progression from one idea to the next falters in the conclusion due to the sudden introduction of medical justifications. Overall, the organizational structure is adequate for a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The lexical resource is limited but minimally adequate to convey the writer's general meaning. There are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and collocation that detract from the response. Examples include 'store brought' instead of 'store-bought', 'Contray' instead of 'contrary', 'are the lack' instead of 'is the lack', and 'suagry' instead of 'sugary'. Furthermore, phrases like 'heavier on the pocket' are slightly informal. While the writer attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'hypoglycemia' and 'exhaustive', the frequency of spelling and lexical errors causes some distraction for the reader, placing this performance securely at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over basic structures. However, frequent grammatical errors occur throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('the mutual elements... are', 'the cost of these items are'), punctuation lapses (missing commas after introductory prepositional phrases like 'For instance if a person'), and spelling errors in inflectional morphology. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they occur with enough frequency to prevent the essay from reaching Band 6.0, as error-free sentences are not in the majority. Therefore, a Band 5.5 is appropriate for grammatical range and accuracy.

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

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