Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-07

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

A growing number of people rely on restaurants and convenience food (frozen food and packaged meals) rather than home-cooked food to supply most of their meals.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of eating this way?

Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Nowadays, majority of people depends on outside food like from restaurants or packaged foods which are ready to eat rather than food which are cooked at home. According to my perspective this kind of situation outweigh disadvantages over advantages.

One of the most convenient disadvantage is that processed and frozen foods does not have essential nutrients, vitamins and proteins to fulfill one's daily need. Secondly, majority of restaurants does not follow the hygiene and safety process which is mandatory to follow in food service and after eating from this kind of food people's immune system badly affected. For instance, this kind of foods leads to food poisoning and diarrhea.

Moreover, processed and packaged meals has more preservatives in it, which is very dangerous for health and may cause disease. For example, after having more frozen and packed food cause disease condition like overweight, obesity and cholesterol. Also one can find it easily and can have it when they feel hungry due to it's availability.

On the other side, home made diets are very healthy and rich in nutrients for one's day to day life and make people's fit. However, ready to eat meals make life easier for people because one can save their time to cook and spend more time for their carrier and have relax.

In nutshell, home cooked foods are very important in one's life to stay fit and healthy. However, convenience food make life easy because of their availability but it is not good for health and cause disease.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both sides of the question and give a clear overall view that the health disadvantages outweigh the convenience benefits. The discussion includes relevant points: possible nutritional shortcomings, hygiene risks, preservatives and health conditions, alongside saving time and easy availability. Examples such as food poisoning and obesity help illustrate the concerns. However, some points are asserted rather than explained: for instance, the claim that restaurants generally fail to follow hygiene procedures is broad, and the link between packaged food and cholesterol is not developed. The advantages receive less attention than the disadvantages, and the final paragraph mostly repeats earlier claims. Develop each side more evenly and explain the causes or circumstances behind your examples to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to disadvantages, then advantages and a conclusion. Paragraphing helps distinguish the main parts, and signposts such as “Secondly,” “Moreover,” and “On the other side” show the intended relationships between ideas. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the sentence about easy availability appears after the discussion of preservatives and health effects, although it introduces an advantage. The contrast between home cooking and convenience food is also placed late and is not fully integrated into the argument. Some linking phrases feel mechanical, and “In nutshell” introduces a conclusion that largely repeats the introduction. Group related points together and use clearer references and transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “processed,” “preservatives,” “hygiene,” “nutrients,” and “availability.” These terms show an attempt to discuss food and health with some specificity. However, the range is limited by repeated wording such as “food,” “healthy,” and “disease,” while several phrases are imprecise or unnatural, including “convenient disadvantage,” “food service,” and “make people's fit.” Some word forms and collocations also weaken clarity, as in “disease condition” and “have relax.” Aim for more precise expressions and vary repeated terms—for example, distinguish “ready meals,” “restaurant meals,” and “home-cooked dishes”—while checking that each phrase sounds natural in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a relative clause in “food which are cooked at home” and a reason-result structure in the sentence about preservatives. The main message is generally understandable, but errors in agreement, articles and verb forms occur across the response. Examples include “majority of people depends,” “foods does not have,” and “meals has”; these subjects require matching verb forms. There are also problems with sentence construction in “after having more frozen and packed food cause disease condition,” which makes the relationship between the action and result difficult to follow. Work on accurate subject–verb agreement and build complex sentences around a clear subject and verb. More consistent control would make your ideas easier to read.

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