Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-11

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 retaurants and convenience food (frozen food and packaged meals) rather than home-cooked food to supply most of their meals. It is ture that most of the people these days prefer convenience and ignore the disadvantages of their decision.

It is a fact that all of us are extremely busy in our work routine and hardly get time to cook fresh food, especially if I talk about a working couple. However, we forget that health is more important than anything else. Imagine if a person catches flu, will that person be able to go to work? The answer is 'no' because flu often follows with a fever and bodyache. Therefore, giving preference to work at the cost of health is not a wise decision at all.

Unfortunately, we are doing it despite of knowing the health risks associated with frozen food and packaged meals. A lot of people realised the significance of fresh food when they witnessed millions of people dying during the Covid-19 pandemic. Frozen and unhealthy food has weakened our immunity. Additionally, there are so many deseases that people catch because of consuming unhealthy food.

Let's now talk about restaurants food. Do we have any clue about the quality of the ingredients they are using when preparing their food? Moreover, there are so many articles that tell us about the unhygeinic environment in which restaurants cook their food. We ignore everything because we look for our convenience.

A very good example here is of restaurants in Pakistan. Recently, the food authority had sealed so many restaurants in Lahore, Pakistan. On of these restaurants was even using donkey meat in their food and were claiming that it was mutton. Can you imagine that they were feeding poison to their customers. A lot of people have alergies and they reacted very badly when consumed this meat but the restaurants ignored everything just to make money.

In conclusion, I would say that people should start taking care of themselves and stop relying too much on restaurants and convenience food. People should only consume such food occasionally and after doing a good research on that restaurants to make sure that they are eating healthy food.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response takes a clear position against relying heavily on restaurant and convenience food, and it gives relevant reasons, including limited preparation time, possible health effects, and concerns about restaurant hygiene. The Lahore example adds a specific illustration. However, the task asks for both advantages and disadvantages, while the essay develops almost exclusively the disadvantages; convenience is mentioned but not explained as a benefit. Several claims, such as frozen food weakening immunity and causing disease, are asserted broadly rather than supported or qualified. To address the task more fully, explain practical advantages such as saving time or offering accessible meals, then balance these against health and food-safety concerns with clearer reasoning and examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay is divided into clear paragraphs, and its progression from busy routines to health concerns, restaurant safety, an example, and a conclusion is generally easy to follow. Linking expressions such as “However,” “Additionally,” and “In conclusion” help signal relationships between ideas. At times, though, the progression is repetitive: several paragraphs return to the same point that people prioritise convenience over health, without developing a contrasting advantage. Rhetorical questions also interrupt the explanatory flow, particularly “Do we have any clue…?” and “Can you imagine…?” Use a more balanced paragraph plan and connect each example directly to the claim it supports. This would make the organisation more purposeful and cohesion less dependent on obvious signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “convenience food,” “health risks,” “immunity,” “ingredients,” and “food authority.” These choices make the subject clear, and phrases such as “at the cost of health” show an attempt to use more expressive language. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “restaurants food,” “follows with a fever,” and “doing a good research.” Spelling errors such as “retaurants,” “ture,” “deseases,” “unhygeinic,” and “alergies” are noticeable and reduce precision. Aim for accurate, natural combinations and proofread carefully; a more measured vocabulary would also help avoid unsupported claims such as calling food “poison.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional and subordinate clauses: “Imagine if a person catches flu…” and “when they witnessed millions of people dying…” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, and paragraphing helps readers follow the argument. Some grammatical errors remain, especially with articles, prepositions, and sentence construction. For example, “despite of knowing” should be “despite knowing,” while “a good research” needs a different construction, such as “good research” or “a thorough check.” The sentence beginning “A lot of people have alergies and they reacted…” shifts awkwardly between present and past. Review article use and maintain consistent tense, and revise rhetorical questions into controlled statements to improve accuracy.

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