Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-08
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)
As, today we are living in modern world where everyone is busy in their own life and they do not have time to cook food on the other hand some people prefer to eat home cooked food. both have their own pros and cons which we will discuss in upcoming paragraph.
Firstly, I talk about disadvantages of people who eat frozen food or restaurants food and some other store. It will not only put bad impact on their health but also impact their pocket in certain ways, because sometimes we order wrong quantity with will waste of food and money both at same time. And now if I talk about advantages for that which are limited but I can write one of them which everyone know that it in only time saver to order food or eat frozen food.
Secondly, now I will discuss pros about them who eat home cooked food. There are a lot of benefits for that as we know what we are eating and their is less wastage of food at our home as we just take a proper proportion of food. A main advantage of cooking at home is it helps to utilize our time in with family or I can say for our family. if I talk about cons of it that sometime we do not have time to cook then the people who just eat home cooked food they will compromise their sleep and use that time in cooking.
In conclusion, I would like to say that every one have their own choice, but home cooked food is way better then frozen and restaurants food. As, nowadays obesity is on its peak. So, eat home cooked food which keeps you healthy.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both advantages and disadvantages of relying on convenience food versus home-cooked meals. However, the development of ideas is limited. For example, the disadvantage of convenience food is briefly mentioned as 'bad impact on health' and 'impact their pocket', but these points lack specific elaboration or examples. Similarly, the advantages of home-cooked food are stated in general terms. The position is clear, but the arguments are somewhat superficial and lack the depth required for a higher band. To improve, you should expand on your points with specific examples or logical consequences to fully develop your ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. Phrases like 'As, today we are living' and 'And now if I talk about' are informal and do not effectively link ideas. The transition between paragraphs is somewhat abrupt. While there is an overall progression, the lack of sophisticated linking words makes the flow feel disjointed. Improving the variety and precision of your cohesive devices, such as using 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'in contrast', would significantly enhance the logical flow of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. You frequently use simple terms like 'bad', 'good', and 'time'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'put bad impact on their health' (should be 'have a negative impact') and 'take a proper proportion of food'. The range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little attempt to use less common or more precise lexical items. To achieve a higher score, focus on learning topic-specific collocations related to nutrition, lifestyle, and economics, and try to avoid repeating the same words throughout the essay.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'everyone is busy in their own life' (should be 'with their own lives'), 'both have their own pros and cons which we will discuss in upcoming paragraph' (missing articles), and 'every one have their own choice' (subject-verb agreement error). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focus on subject-verb agreement and article usage.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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