Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-26

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)

Many people depends on frozen food as well as food stations instead of freshly prepared meals at home. I will explain disadvantages as well as advantages of this in my upcoming paragraphs.

The first and foremost thing is that the advantages of eating foods from restaurants can help people to save their time because they don’t need to spend lot of time to prepare food for them. For example: if a international student wants to manage their job and studies they don’t have much time to manage different tasks like their education as well as their work , so they will prefer to eat or take meals for their job from food stations rather than preparing at home due to which they save their time .

Moreover , the disadvantages of relying on outside foods or packet food is that its not good for health because we don’t how they prepare this food , which material they use to prepare that food . For instance: Some restaurants give money savings deals on some things because that things are remaining things if they don’t give deals on that products , the cuisine will not get sale they need to throw that things due to which they get lose.

To conclude, depending on frozen items and outside foods have advantages because its save time , but it also have disadvantages because its not good for health because it may cause many problems like increase in weight as it contains lot of oil and sugar which leads to overweight.

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 development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you provide a relevant example regarding international students, the explanation of the disadvantages is vague and repetitive. For instance, the point about 'money savings deals' is not clearly linked to the health risks mentioned. To reach a higher band, you should expand on your points with more specific details or logical consequences. The position is clear, but the overall depth of the argument is basic, which aligns with the descriptors for Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'The first and foremost thing', 'Moreover', and 'To conclude' to signal transitions. However, the flow within paragraphs is sometimes disjointed, and the use of referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'that things are remaining things'). The progression of ideas is present but feels mechanical. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensuring that each sentence logically follows the previous one without relying on repetitive phrasing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on simple terms like 'good', 'bad', 'things', and 'food' repeatedly. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'food stations' instead of 'restaurants' or 'takeaways', and 'get lose' instead of 'incur losses'. To achieve a higher score, you should aim to use more academic vocabulary and precise terminology related to nutrition and lifestyle, while also avoiding the repetition of basic words throughout the essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally hinder clarity. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('Many people depends'), missing articles ('a international student'), and awkward phrasing ('they don’t how they prepare this food'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma placement. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic subject-verb agreement and article usage would significantly improve your accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.