Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-19

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 dependence on processed food and packaged meals from restaurants and supermarkets has increased overtime. People prefer to eat at a restaurant or order takeaways over home-cooked meals. This trend has both positive and negative impacts on health and lifestyle of a person.

On one hand, the world is moving at a fast pace and to manage day to day tasks like buying groceries and cooking a meal with busy routines has become extremely difficult. This is the reason people look for convenient options. Packaged food are ready to cook and save up a lot of time. For instance, an undergraduate student with a side job can get takeaway from university's cafeteria rather than spending hours preparing meals.

On the other hand, packaged meals are unhealthy, nutrient deficient and can be high in calories. Consuming such meals can pose a serious threat on the health and physical wellbeing. Moreover, there is a large percentage of restaurant owners and food manufacturers that show negligence in maintaining hygiene and quality of food. Meals prepared in such unhygienic environment also increase the risk of diseases. Due to this, today people suffer from high blood pressure and heart disease at a young age.

In conclusion, even though restaurant and packaged food have made life a lot easier by offering a wide range of readily available food. However, they have significantly increased health issues and poor lifestyle choices among people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of relying on convenience food. However, the essay is under the 250-word minimum requirement, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the points regarding time-saving and health risks are relevant, they are not fully extended or supported with sufficient depth. The conclusion is also somewhat abrupt and contains a grammatical error that affects the overall structure. To improve, you should expand on your arguments with more detailed examples and ensure you meet the minimum word count to allow for a more comprehensive exploration of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'On one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover' are used to guide the reader. However, the transition in the conclusion is faulty; the sentence starting with 'However' is a fragment that does not connect properly to the previous clause. Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that all cohesive devices are used grammatically will help elevate your score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'processed food', 'nutrient deficient', and 'wellbeing'. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'show negligence in maintaining hygiene', which is understandable but could be more naturally phrased. The vocabulary is generally sufficient to convey your meaning, but it lacks the precision and variety required for higher bands. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing like 'food' and 'meals' by using synonyms or more descriptive language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'Packaged food are ready' (subject-verb agreement) and the sentence fragment in the conclusion: 'In conclusion, even though restaurant and packaged food have made life a lot easier... However, they have...'. These errors do not generally impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and ensuring that complex sentences are punctuated correctly to avoid fragments.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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