Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-22

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)

In today's rapidly changing world, has become a considerable debate. While some people believe that pre-made food e.g., packed or preserved food is better, nevertheless, others argue that home made food should be the source of meal. Although, this development offers several advantages, however, I believe that its disadvantages are the most significant.

One of the main reason why individuals rely on restaurants and convenience food is busy schedules. In the current technological era, people are hectic in their lives and they indulged into work for atleast 40-50 hours weekly. As a result, they hardly get the times to cook at home. That is why, pre-packed and frozen food is becoming the source of meal for individuals because it is ready to serve and pre-cooked. Moreover, home made food is considered as the healthiest supply of food. To illustrate, all the precautions and cleaniness are being used to make the food at home, for instance, proper washing of vegetables and hands, check cross-contamination, etc. This makes food more healthier and tasty. Home-cooked food is best for people who are vegetarian and who have significant allergic prescribed by physicians.

On the other side, it is well said that, " Every garden has weeds", likewise, both of the food sources has some cons as well. To begin with the frozen and packed food, the packed meal is sometimes become unsafe for health and can easily become the readon for health issuses, such as, obesity, cardiovascular, anxiety, high blood pressure etc , because eating the frozen, preserved and freezed food quite oftenly can make the health deteriorate easily.

Furthermore, home-cooked food may take hours to prepare and sometimes this can become a hectic, if it is a regularly scheduled with daily working people and within large families. This method of supply of food can only of possible during the times when someone is not working, is at home or during day-off periods.

To conclude, while there are valid arguments for and against both of the sources of meal, it is essential to consider the relative ones which will benefit the society as a whole. Consequently, home-made food is outweighing the positive impacts over dependence on restaurants and convenience food.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both sides of the question and gives a clear overall view: convenience food saves time, while frequent reliance on it may harm health, and home cooking has its own time costs. The examples about long working hours, food hygiene, allergies and possible health effects are relevant. However, the discussion is uneven: the advantages of eating restaurant or convenience food are mainly reduced to convenience, while the paragraph about home cooking’s health benefits shifts away from the specific advantages of relying on restaurants and packaged meals. Some claims, such as the list of health conditions, are asserted rather than explained or supported. Develop each side more evenly and make the final position more precise about which disadvantages outweigh which advantages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the main ideas are generally grouped by topic. Linking expressions such as “As a result,” “Moreover” and “Furthermore” help show relationships between points. However, progression is sometimes difficult to follow because the first body paragraph moves from convenience food’s time-saving benefit to the benefits of home cooking without clearly signalling the change in focus. The contrastive opening “On the other side” is also awkward, and the proverb interrupts rather than advances the argument. Some references, including “both of the food sources” and “the relative ones,” are unclear. Use topic sentences that directly identify each side and connect each example explicitly to the question.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response attempts a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “pre-packed,” “cross-contamination,” “cardiovascular” and “deteriorate,” and the intended meaning is usually understandable. However, inaccurate word choice, collocation and spelling are noticeable and sometimes make the argument less clear. Examples include “source of meal,” “significant allergic prescribed by physicians,” “quite oftenly,” and “readon for health issuses.” Some expressions, such as “rapidly changing world” and “Every garden has weeds,” feel generic or unnatural in this context. Aim for precise, natural phrases such as “a convenient option,” “people with diagnosed food allergies,” and “increase the risk of health problems.” Proofread spelling and avoid using complex terms unless their meaning and collocation are secure.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There is an attempt to use both simple and complex structures, including cause-and-effect clauses and contrastive openings such as “Although…” and “while…”. Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and agreement occur often enough to make some sentences difficult to read. For example, “In today’s rapidly changing world, has become a considerable debate” lacks a clear subject, while “One of the main reason” and “both of the food sources has” show agreement problems. The sentence beginning “Although this development offers…” also combines “although” with “however” unnecessarily. Practise building complete clauses, checking singular and plural agreement, and using one clear contrast structure at a time. Careful editing of sentence boundaries and punctuation would improve control.

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