Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-11

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 6.0)

The issue of whether people prefer to eat restaurant food or frozen food is highly contentious. Nowadays, individuals rely on convenience food rather than home-cooked meal. This essay will discuss the limitations and positive effects of eating prepared food.

To begin with, employees can gain benefit by eating frozen food. This is because many young people have hectic schedule, and they do not have enough time for cooking. Therefore, prepared meal can make food more accessible for them. For example, in America, many young people prefer packaged meal because of their demanding schedule. Furthermore, restaurant's food can increase people's appetite. Youngsters find restaurant food more decadent, and prefer to eat it to unwind themselves, over the simple home-cooked food. However, every advantage also has certain disadvantages.

On the other hand, self prepared meal are more beneficial to people's well-being. This is due to the fact that home prepared meals are cooked in hygiene, all the ingrediants are unharmful. Thus, resaurant's food can cause serious health related issues to individuals. For instance, In Pakistan, many people presented to hospital with food poisoning on daily basis. Consequently, eating restaurant's food could lead to serious health-related issues, such as diarrhea, food poisoning, and hepatitis A. In addition, frozen food require proper attention. Before purchasing such food individuals should check its expiry date and ingrediants. Otherwise, they could have to experience serious consequences.

In summary, many young people prefer to consume prepared meal over home-cooked meal. Although convenience food could save people's time and convenient for them, it can also negatively affect people's well-being. In my view, home prepared food is good for people's physical health, which make them to become more productive in their workplace.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both advantages and disadvantages and give a clear overall preference for home-prepared food. The benefits of convenience are supported by the point about employees’ busy schedules, while the health risks are illustrated with food poisoning and other illnesses. However, some ideas are more fully explained than others: the claim that restaurant food increases appetite and helps people unwind is introduced but not developed, and the Pakistan example is broad rather than clearly linked to evidence. The discussion also shifts between restaurant food and frozen or packaged meals without always distinguishing their different advantages and risks. To strengthen the response, explain each point with a specific cause-and-effect link and keep the examples closely tied to the type of food being discussed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on benefits, a paragraph on drawbacks, and a conclusion. Signposting such as “To begin with,” “On the other hand,” and “In summary” makes the main stages easy to follow. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent organisation and shows some of the flexibility associated with stronger cohesion. However, transitions can feel mechanical, particularly “However, every advantage also has certain disadvantages,” which announces a shift without developing the connection. References such as “such food” and “it” are not always precise because the essay moves between restaurant meals, frozen food, and packaged meals. Use more specific linking and refer back to the exact food type or idea to make progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including “hectic schedule,” “demanding schedule,” “food poisoning,” and “health-related issues.” There are also attempts at less common vocabulary, such as “decadent,” though it is not a natural choice for describing restaurant food in this context. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “gain benefit,” “prepared meal,” “cooked in hygiene,” and “unharmful.” Spelling errors such as “ingred iants” (written as “ingred iants” in the response), “resaurant’s,” and “diarrhea” also affect accuracy. These issues do not prevent understanding, but more precise, natural phrasing would improve control. Focus on common collocations for food, health, and convenience, and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including causal clauses with “because” and “due to the fact that,” and the main ideas remain understandable. Some grammatical errors persist, especially with agreement, articles, and plural forms. For example, “many young people have hectic schedule” needs a plural noun, “self prepared meal are” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “frozen food require” also needs agreement. The conclusion’s “which make them” does not agree with its reference, and “make them to become” uses an incorrect verb pattern. These errors rarely obscure your meaning, but they limit accuracy. Review agreement and article use, and practise checking each sentence’s subject and main verb.

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