Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-01

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)

Many manufactured food and drinks contain high level of sugar, which causes many heart problems. Sugary products should be made more expensive to encourage people to consume less sugar. A research was conducted, showing that the consumption of these foods and drinks has caused obesity, diabetes and many other problems for the youngsters. Personally, a family member of mine has diabetes and once they ate something manufactured that was 'less in sugar'. After eating that her sugar went really high and we had to rush her to the hospital. This was false advertising, in my opinion, they shouldn't have said that the food was 'less in sugar' when it was certainly not.

Sugary products should be made more expensive to make it hard for people to buy the sugary products. After seeing the expensive rates, the people would definitely feel infuriated at first, but realising the overall health benefits, they would definitely be overjoyed. I also believe that a company shouldn't be false advertising, claiming a product to be something when it is clearly not. Sugar is a great ingredient but only when used in moderation, it shouldn't be that there is sugar in every single thing, and especially in such a high amount.

Some people do try to fight their temptations and not buy all this stuff but it is tough and most give in. So I think that the government should make a rule that these sugary products should be a certain amount for the betterment of society.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is clear: you support making sugary products more expensive, and you give relevant reasons involving health, temptation and misleading product claims. The family example adds personal support, but the link between that incident and higher prices is not fully explained; it mainly illustrates false advertising. The claim that consumers would become “overjoyed” after recognising the benefits is also asserted rather than supported. Overall, the response addresses the question only partially because several ideas remain limited or under-developed. It is also 23 words below the 250-word minimum; the 23 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop the pricing argument with a specific explanation of how higher prices could change purchasing habits, and add a relevant example or evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure: it introduces the issue and personal example, then discusses price increases, and ends with a recommendation to government. This gives the reader some organisation. However, the progression between points is not always clear. The first paragraph moves from health effects to a family member’s diabetes and then to false advertising, without clearly connecting these points to the proposed price increase. Repetition of “definitely” and “sugary products” also makes the development feel repetitive, while the final paragraph introduces temptation without linking it explicitly to the preceding argument. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example to your position so the essay develops in a more consistent sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “consumption,” “false advertising,” “moderation,” “temptations” and “betterment of society.” These choices show some ability to discuss health and consumer behaviour beyond very basic language. There are, however, several imprecise or unnatural expressions, such as “heart problems” where the task refers more broadly to health problems, “expensive rates,” and “a certain amount” when describing a government-set price. Repeated use of “definitely” and “sugary products” also limits flexibility. Aim for more precise collocations and vary key terms; this would make your argument sound more natural and specific while preserving the clear meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex sentences, including a relative clause (“which causes many heart problems”) and a conditional structure (“only when used in moderation”). Meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “Many manufactured food and drinks contain high level” has problems with agreement and the singular count noun; “A research was conducted” uses an incorrect article with an uncountable noun; and “After eating that her sugar went really high” has an unclear clause structure. The long sentence beginning “Sugar is a great ingredient” also joins ideas with a comma where stronger punctuation is needed. Practise accurate articles, agreement and sentence boundaries, while continuing to use complex structures.

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