Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-21

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)

The advantages of home cooked food include 1. The food is healthy and prepared in a better way than most of the restaurants 2. The home cooked food is cheap in price when compared to restaurants 3. Cooking gives us positive energy and elevates our mood 4.We can prepare different types of dishes based on our mood 4. I have been eating only self cooked food for most of the time and I mostly never get sick because I prepare my food based on the daily nutrition requirement for my body. 5. Food is the ultimate medicine so we need to be careful on choosing what we are eating on daily basis.

The advantages of having frozen and packaged meals are 1. It is very easy to prepare food and need less time and efforts 2. The frozen food have more self life hence can be stored for longer periods and can be used based on need 3. The packaged meals have same taste every time we prepare because we can follow the instruction manual given and can add the required ingredients 4. We can easily carry frozen and packaged food to any where we go. Example : Camping, unlike home cooked food. The disadvantages of frozen and packaged meals are 1. The ingredients used in preparation of packaged and frozen food are harmful to us in longer run if consumed on regular basis. 2. Once we get addicted to packaged food we become lethargic and completly depend on it instead of preparing home cooked food 3. Packaged and frozen foods are highly priced when compared to home cooked food. Conclusion : Food is medicine so we need to be cautious on what we are consuming on a day to day basis. Home cooked food is a healthy choice and when we run out of time some times can go with frozen and packaged food.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address the advantages and disadvantages of relying on convenience food, and your conclusion gives a clear preference for home-cooked meals while allowing that packaged food can be useful when time is short. Relevant points include convenience, longer storage, portability, possible health effects, and cost. However, the response opens by discussing the advantages of home cooking, which is not the main comparison requested, and the advantages of convenience food receive more detail than its disadvantages. Several claims, such as becoming “addicted” or “lethargic,” would be stronger with explanation or a specific example. Develop the most important points more fully and keep the discussion focused on the benefits and drawbacks of eating restaurant and convenience food.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an identifiable overall order: it discusses home cooking, then convenience food, and ends with a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the broad topic. However, the numbered lists make the answer feel like notes rather than a connected essay, and the repeated “advantages” headings do not clearly distinguish the task’s main focus. The transition from home-cooked food to packaged meals is abrupt, while the conclusion repeats the idea that food is medicine without bringing the comparison together. Use separate paragraphs with clear topic sentences, and connect each point to the next with natural linking phrases. Referencing and progression would also improve if related ideas were grouped rather than presented as a sequence of numbered claims.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate a range of ideas, including “frozen and packaged meals,” “nutrition requirement,” “stored for longer periods,” and “ingredients.” Some wording is repetitive, particularly the repeated use of “food” and “packaged,” and several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “self life,” “positive energy,” and “highly priced.” Spelling and word-form slips, including “completly,” also reduce accuracy. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding your main points, but they limit precision and flexibility. Aim for more natural collocations and vary your vocabulary—for example, describe meals as “convenient,” “nutritious,” or “processed” where appropriate, rather than repeating broad terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

Your response communicates its main ideas using mostly straightforward sentence patterns, and you attempt some longer structures, such as “Once we get addicted to packaged food we become lethargic…” However, there are some errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “The frozen food have” should use a singular verb or a plural noun, and “need less time and efforts” has an inconsistent construction. The numbered points also create fragments and awkward punctuation, while “Conclusion :” is not integrated into a complete sentence. Use a wider mix of accurately controlled sentences, check subject–verb agreement and articles, and turn list items into complete sentences within well-formed paragraphs.

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