Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-21
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 like frozen food and packaged meals, rather than home-cooked food to supply most of their meals' has become an integral part of the rising debate in the present world. While proponents of the arguments are in favour, however, the opponents are completely against the relevance of the restaurants or convenience food. In my opinion, home-cooked food has more positive impacts than negatives around the globe.
To commence with, there are a number of arguments in favour of my belief. The most prominent one is that, home-cooked food is properly hygenic and purety based. According to the research conducted by Western Sydney University, they concluded that home-cooked food are more healthy than convenience food. Secondly, home-cooked food does not need any chemicals for food preservation, infact, home-made food is fresh, that makes our stomach happy. On the other hand, critics may point out that one of most significant disadvantages of always preferring home food is that, it may leads to pressure on home working ladies, obivously sometimes they need relaxation, so we have to consider it. For instance, a survey conducted in a United States reveals that home-cooked food has much better impact on stomach as compared to restaurant food or packaged meals.
To conclude, even when there are a lot of demerits associated with home-cooked food, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, however, the people relying on restaurants and convenience food facing major health issues. Therefore, efficient use of home-cooked food is promoted, however, its misuse should be condemned.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of eating out and consuming convenience foods, although it primarily focuses on comparing home-cooked food against these alternatives. The position is clear from the introduction, and main ideas are presented, such as health benefits and convenience. However, the development of ideas lacks balance and depth. For instance, the discussion on the disadvantages of convenience food is somewhat underdeveloped, and the essay frequently shifts back to defending home-cooked food rather than deeply exploring both sides of restaurants and convenience meals. While all parts of the task are addressed, the arguments remain somewhat limited and general. This aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor, where relevant ideas are present but require more thorough extension and support.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is generally coherent with an overall logical arrangement, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to structure the response. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases like 'To commence with' and 'infact' are used awkwardly, and referencing is not always clear, such as the pronoun use in 'according to the research conducted by Western Sydney University, they concluded'. Furthermore, the flow between sentences is occasionally disrupted by repetitive phrasing and structural awkwardness. These issues place the response firmly at Band 6, where logical organisation is present, but cohesive devices and referencing are at times inaccurate or mechanical.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'prominent', 'preservation', and 'demerits'. However, there are notable word-choice errors, incorrect collocations, and spelling mistakes throughout the text, including 'hygenic', 'purety', 'infact', and 'obivously'. Phrases like 'purety based' and 'makes our stomach happy' lack the appropriate academic tone and precision required for higher band levels. Although these lexical errors do not seriously impede overall communication, they occur with sufficient frequency to prevent the essay from reaching a Band 7. The vocabulary is minimally sufficient and functional, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over punctuation and sentence structure. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward syntactic choices that disrupt the flow, such as 'home-cooked food are more healthy', 'it may leads to', and 'the people relying on restaurants and convenience food facing major health issues' (which lacks a main verb). Complex structures often contain errors, and punctuation is sometimes misused, such as excessive comma splices. Despite these frequent errors in grammar, communication is rarely completely obscured, allowing the reader to follow the intended message. This performance is characteristic of Band 5, where a limited range of structures and frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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