Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-24
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)
A Growing number of people rely on restaurants and convenience food usually frozen and packaged meals rather than cooking a home cooked food to supply theirs meals.
In here I will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of this eating habits.
Firstly ,I will be discussing the advantages of eating on restaurants and convenience food usually frozen and packaged. The advantages of this, If you are a busy human being, workaholic and travels from work to home and vice versa it is really accessible to have a to go food rather than preparing a food to cooked. Because it’s just easy to grab food outside ,like for example, Jollibee fast food chain have a drive thru, just order and after 5-10 minutes of waiting your food is ready to go. When you arrived home ,Just microwave to reheat and it’s ready to eat. The disadvantage of this is we don't know how did they prepare the food what ingredients what put and what preservatives was used to prolong the shelf life.
On the other hand ,Preparing food at home. The advantages of preparing food at home are you know that you prepare your food clean and washed properly, hygienic way of preparing. You know what ingredients what put on. The disadvantage of this , if you are a busy person you wont be having enough time to prepare food and cooked.
In conclusion, whether food comes from restaurants , convenience store or a home cooked food, balance between the two is still a good approach.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both the advantages and disadvantages of relying on convenience food and restaurants. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited. While you mention accessibility and time-saving as advantages, and health concerns as disadvantages, the points are not fully extended or supported with sophisticated reasoning. The structure is somewhat simplistic, and the conclusion is brief. To improve, you should aim to provide more detailed explanations and perhaps a more nuanced discussion of the societal or economic implications of these eating habits to better meet the requirements for a higher band score.
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 quite basic and sometimes repetitive (e.g., 'The advantages of this', 'The disadvantage of this'). There is a lack of sophisticated linking words to connect ideas within and between sentences. The flow is occasionally interrupted by awkward phrasing, such as 'In here I will be discussing'. To improve, try using a wider variety of transition signals like 'consequently', 'furthermore', or 'conversely' to create a more natural progression of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on simple, repetitive terms like 'food', 'prepare', and 'busy'. There are also some issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'busy human being' and 'preparing a food to cooked'. To achieve a higher score, you should incorporate more topic-specific vocabulary related to nutrition, lifestyle, and convenience, and work on using more precise collocations to express your ideas more naturally.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'what ingredients what put', 'when you arrived home', and 'wont be having enough time'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage and spacing. The sentence structure is often fragmented or run-on. To improve, focus on mastering subject-verb agreement, correct verb tense usage, and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed accurately with appropriate conjunctions and relative clauses.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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