Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-30

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)

Manufactured food and drink products have high levels of sugar and sugar is the one of the core reasons for health problems. Some people argue that sugary products should be expensive so that people feel discouraged to buy sugary products. I disagree with the opinion because making a product expensive is not an effective method to reduce consumption and increased tax can hamper business.

Authorities often expect that people will reduce the consumption of a expensive product but it often backfires. Sometimes people show more eagerness to buy a product when it becomes expensive. It act as a status simble and people even take illegal measure to get access to that product. For example, cigarette is a highly taxed product in Bangladesh but higer price did not reduce the consumption. In contrast, people are more interested to buy top tier cigarettes with more money. So, making sugary products expensive will not reduce its consumption.

If high tax is imposed on sugary product to make it expensive, it will hamper the sugar industry and related businesses. High taxation will shrink the market size which will directly impact the job market. People involved into sugary product business will lose their jobs. As a consequence, people may even protest on the streets againt govermnet. This is a negative outcome for the society. Therefore, making sugary products expensive through taxation will cause negative consequence than expected results.

In conclusion, manufactured products with high sugar content is harmful for health but making the sugary products expensive to reduce consption is not an effective method. If sugary products are made expensive, people will persive those products as status simble and higher tax will hamper the business.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the prompt, taking a clear and well-supported position of disagreement throughout the essay. The stance is established in the introduction and maintained across the body paragraphs. Relevant ideas are presented, such as the idea that higher taxation may not curb demand and could negatively impact businesses and employment. However, some arguments, such as the comparison to cigarettes and the claim that products might become status symbols, tend to overgeneralize and could be developed with greater nuance. For example, the cigarette example is somewhat unique compared to sugary drinks, though it remains a relevant illustration of taxation limits. Overall, the task is addressed competently, aligning well with the expectations for Band 6.5 to 7.0, and is best placed at Band 6.0 due to some under-developed extensions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure consisting of an introduction, two body paragraphs focusing on distinct points (consumer behavior and business impact), and a conclusion. Logical sequencing is present, and ideas progress reasonably well from point to point. However, referencing and cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or slightly faulty, as seen in phrases like 'It act as a status simble' and abrupt transitions between sentences. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate distinct arguments, but internal cohesion within paragraphs could be smoother and more varied. This performance fits comfortably within the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully discussing concepts related to taxation, consumption, and the food industry. There are, however, noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'simble' for symbol, 'higer' for higher, 'againt' for against, 'govermnet' for government, and 'persive' for perceive. Despite these errors, communication is not impeded, and the meaning remains clear. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items like 'consumption' and 'taxation', but the frequency of spelling mistakes prevents the score from reaching a higher band. This is a solid representation of Band 6 lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over clause structures through conditional and causal sentences (e.g., 'If high tax is imposed... it will hamper...'). However, there are frequent grammatical and mechanical errors, such as article omissions and agreements (e.g., 'a expensive product', 'cause negative consequence than expected results', 'manufactured products with high sugar content is harmful'). While these errors are noticeable and require the reader to occasionally pause, they rarely impede overall communication. The presence of these recurring errors alongside a decent mix of structures places this response firmly at Band 6.

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