Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-02

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 5.5)

It is widely debated that products such as food and drink that contain high level of sugar should be sale at higher prices, so people consume less and keep protect themselves from different health problems. From my perspective I completely agree with this view because when these products are become expensive people will switch to alternative items that made with natural ingredients and contain less sugar.

The primary reason for my opinion is that when sugary items become expensive people are avoid to spend money on that items. Individuals are more likely to switch other alternatives that are made with natural ingredients. For instance, an item that made with sugar and price is cheaper, people would like to purchased that product. On the other hand if product is expensive then individuals may try to find some alternative. Therefore, prices should be higher for products that contains heavy sugar because prices matter a lot to influence consumers .

Another significant reason for my opinion is that sugary items are dangerous for human health. It increased different health problems such as daibates. However there are many other items that are cheaper and also beneficial for health. For example, People are consuming different foods and beverages in their daily life that contain sugar instead of some natural products. These products increase health problems. As a result, people should avoid these products and prefer those items that contain less sugar.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that food and beverages that contain high level of sugar should more expensive to encourage people to consume less sugar and keep safe themselves from various disease.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position that sugary products should be more expensive to encourage lower consumption and better health. However, the development of ideas remains limited and under-developed throughout the essay. While the writer attempts to support the argument—such as mentioning that higher prices cause people to switch to alternative natural items—the points are repetitive and lack specific, well-elaborated examples. For instance, the discussion on health problems only briefly mentions diabetes without fully exploring the broader socio-economic or public health implications. To reach the next level, the ideas need to be extended with more detailed explanations, concrete examples, and a more thorough exploration of the consequences of taxation on sugary products.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some basic organization, featuring an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, and paragraphs are logically grouped around central themes. However, there is no clear overall progression of ideas, as the arguments tend to circle back to the same points rather than building a progressive case. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often repetitive, mechanical, or somewhat inaccurate, such as the frequent reliance on 'For instance' and 'However' without always establishing precise logical links between sentences. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as pronoun use referring back to previous nouns. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more natural variety of transitional phrases and ensure that each sentence leads smoothly and logically into the next to enhance the overall flow of the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task, demonstrating basic word choices such as 'food and drink', 'health problems', and 'expensive'. There are noticeable lexical errors and issues with word formation, collocation, and part of speech, such as 'high level of sugar' instead of 'high levels of sugar', 'should be sale' instead of 'should be sold', and 'daibates' instead of 'diabetes'. Additionally, phrasing like 'heavy sugar' and 'keep protect themselves' reflects unnatural collocations and word choices that cause some difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer must expand their vocabulary range, incorporate less common lexical items accurately, and pay closer attention to word forms, spelling, and natural collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay relies heavily on a limited range of sentence structures, primarily using basic forms with frequent errors when attempting complex sentences. There are frequent grammatical errors involving verb forms, tenses, article usage, and prepositions within grammatical patterns. Examples of these issues include 'when these products are become expensive', 'people are avoid to spend', 'an item that made with sugar', and 'should more expensive'. These frequent errors frequently distract the reader and occasionally obscure the intended meaning. To progress, the writer needs to practice constructing a wider variety of complex sentence forms with improved control over verb agreements, auxiliary verbs, and structural integrity, while reducing the density of basic grammatical slips.

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