Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-16

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 6.5)

It has been surveyed that number of people who eats ready to eat food and food from restaurants has been increased rapidly. People do not prefer eating home-cooked meals these days. This development has both pros and cons, it will be discussed in detailed in following essay.

The first and foremost benefit of eating meals from fast-food restaurants and packaged meals is that it is usually convenient for working professionals, as specially when they are at the age where they have to focus more on building their careers rather than cooking. Along with that frozen food is also convenient for students studying abroad, they have to manage their school and work simultaneously, due to this it is hard to manage cooking everyday at home. Moreover, these ready to eat food supplies also have wide range of variety, therefore, people can try different cuisines as well.

The major drawback is that these foods are often less healthy than home-cooked meals. There are still many companies who do not maintain food safety and quality standards and due to that their customers are more likely to catch to get sick easily. Additionally, we do not have control on the ingredients that they use in manufacturing, sometimes they do not even mention harmful ingredients or preservatives that they have added in order to increase shelf-life of products. Furthermore, regular eating out at restaurants can cost much more than cooking at home.

In conclusion, although replying on restaurants and convenience food offers greater convenience and saves time, it can also be expensive and harmful to people's health. Therefore, people should try to maintain a balance between ready-to-eat meals and nutritious home-cooked food.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of relying on convenience food. The ideas are relevant and clearly presented, such as the convenience for working professionals and students, balanced against health concerns and financial costs. However, the development of these points is somewhat superficial. For instance, the discussion on health risks could be strengthened by providing a more specific example of a common health issue linked to processed food. The position is clear throughout, and the conclusion effectively summarizes the main points. To reach a higher band, ensure that each supporting point is fully extended with more depth or specific evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, with an introduction, body paragraphs for pros and cons, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'The first and foremost', 'Along with that', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the vague use of 'this' in the opening paragraph. The progression of ideas is generally smooth, but the flow could be improved by varying the sentence structure to better connect the arguments within paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There is some attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'nutritious', 'preservatives', and 'manufacturing'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are occasional errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'catch to get sick' (which is redundant) and 'replying on' (should be 'relying on'). To improve, the student should focus on using more precise collocations and a wider variety of academic vocabulary to convey ideas with greater sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that persist throughout the text. Examples include 'It has been surveyed that number of people who eats' (subject-verb agreement error: 'the number' and 'eat'), 'as specially' (should be 'especially'), and 'regular eating out' (should be 'regularly eating out'). These errors do not impede communication, but they demonstrate a lack of consistent control over complex structures. Increasing the frequency of error-free sentences would help elevate the score in this criterion.

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