Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-05

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 7.0)

In recent days, the high consumption of sugary foods and drinks has contributed significantly to public health issues such as obesity and deabetes. To combat this problem, some people susgest that taxing these products to make them more expensive is the best solution. I largely agree with this view, although I believe that price increase must be accompained by educational measures to be fully effective.

On the one hand, raising the price of sugary items is proven way to reduce the consumption. When the cost of high-sugar items products will costly, consumer especially low-income individuals and young are less likely to purchase them regularly. Furthermore, higher prices encourage manufactures to reformulate their recipes by reducing sugar content to avoiding paying extra taxes. For example, several countries that introduced a soda tax noticed an immediate drop in soft drink sales alongside an increase in water and healthier breverage sales.

On the other hand, relying solely on higher prices may not completely solve this issue. For many individuals, sugar consumption is a habit or addiction that price hike alone cannot break. Additionally, if healthier food choices remain expensive or unavailable, people may continue buying sugary alternatives despite the price increase. Therefore government should use tax revenue collected from these products to subsidize healthier foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as run public campaigns to educate people about the danger of excessive suagr.

In conclusion, while increasing the price of sugary items is an effective strategy to lower consumption, it workes best when combined with public, and education and better access to affordable, healthy food.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.0

The response covers all parts of the task well, presenting a clear position throughout. The writer addresses the prompt directly by acknowledging the health issues caused by sugar and presenting a nuanced view that tax increases should be combined with educational measures. Main ideas are well developed, such as the explanation of how higher prices reduce consumption among low-income groups and young people, and how taxes incentivize manufacturers to reformulate their recipes. While the arguments are extended and supported with relevant examples like soda taxes, some parts of the discussion show a slight tendency to generalize, which prevents the response from reaching the highest tier. Overall, the task is addressed thoroughly and thoughtfully, with a clear focus on both sides of the debate and a well-reasoned conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The essay demonstrates a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct central topic, starting with a well-defined introduction that outlines the writer's stance. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate the main arguments, moving smoothly from the benefits of taxation to the limitations and the need for complementary measures. Cohesive devices are used flexibly, including transition markers such as 'On the one hand', 'Furthermore', and 'On the other hand', which guide the reader effectively through the text. Referencing is generally clear, though occasional minor lapses in cohesion prevent the response from achieving a higher rating. The overall arrangement is coherent, ensuring that the argument flows naturally from start to finish.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common lexical items such as 'reformulate', 'addiction', and 'subsidize'. However, there are some noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, spelling, and word form. For example, 'deabetes' contains a spelling error, 'susgest' is misspelled, 'breverage' contains an extra vowel, and phrases like 'high-sugar items products will costly' display awkward phrasing and grammatical word-choice errors. Despite these occasional slips and inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the message clearly, and communication is never impeded. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to demonstrate greater precision in word choice and eliminate basic spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use varied structures such as conditional and concessive clauses. There are several error-free sentences, particularly in the opening and closing paragraphs. However, a number of grammatical errors persist throughout the text, including article omissions and misuse, pluralization issues, and awkward verb forms, as seen in 'price increase must be accompained', 'young are less likely', and 'avoiding paying extra taxes'. Punctuation and prepositional patterns also show occasional slips, such as 'Therefore government should use'. These errors rarely impede communication, but their presence keeps the grammatical range and accuracy at a solid intermediate level, reflecting good control interspersed with recurring minor slips.

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