Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-17
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)
It is fact that nowadays home cooked food have replaced by ready made foods such as frozen food , ready to eat meals that is available in restaurants. This development has merits and demerits both. I will discuss both the aspects in the forthcoming paragraphs.
Considering advantages of eating packaged food, the major one is that it can save time and money of individuals. Due to hectic lifestyle , people don't have enough time to prepare meal at home. After completing 9 to 5 jobs humans feel exhausted and tired as they have a lot of mental and physical burden at workplace. For this reason, they mostly prefer to eat at restaurants and buy ready made packaged foods that prepare within a few minutes. Furthermore, frozen foods are less expensive as compared to organic foods. Therefore , these type of packaged foods get attention of customers and they are quickly sold at grocery stores everyday.
However , convenience food can bring some negative impacts on people's health. To elaborate this, individuals can not get enough nutrients from ready to eat meals packets. Most of the frozen foods don't have sufficient nutrients and good ingredients that beneficial for humans health. This habit can bring some health issues in people especially younger generation. For example , in these days majority of young people buy frozen burgers from grocery stores and enjoy them at home and this type of food can lead some serious health problem such as obesity in the new generation.
To conclude that although convenience foods can lead some serious health issues in humans , it can also save time and money of individuals who are daily engaged in corporate life.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of relying on convenience food. The position is clear from the introduction, and the main ideas—time/cost savings versus health concerns—are relevant. However, the development is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding cost is asserted without specific evidence, and the health section could be more deeply explored with more sophisticated reasoning. While the task is fully addressed, the support for the ideas remains at a general level, which is characteristic of a Band 6.0 performance.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'Considering advantages', 'Furthermore', and 'However' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing and flow, such as the abrupt start to the conclusion. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and the logical flow is sufficient to meet the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'hectic lifestyle' and 'corporate life'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'ready made foods that prepare within a few minutes' (should be 'are prepared') and 'lead some serious health problem' (should be 'lead to'). The range is sufficient to communicate, but lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, such as 'It is fact that nowadays home cooked food have replaced by' (passive voice error) and 'individuals can not get enough nutrients from ready to eat meals packets' (pluralization/preposition issues). While these errors are frequent, they do not impede the reader's understanding of the main points. The control of punctuation is generally acceptable, but the frequency of errors prevents a higher score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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