Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Barron's Writing · 2026-11-04

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 6.0)

Nowadays majority of the masses rely on the fast food from the outlets and restaurants rather than eating home cooked food for most of their meals. This developments has significant advantages and disadvantages and I will discuss both of them in the upcoming paragraphs.

Firstly, shifting towards the pros of this trend, its saves a lot of times. To elaborate it, majority of the people in the present time are working more than two jobs and they barely get any time to cook the food at the home and cooking food at home, requires a lot of time and attention. So its better for the individuals to get the food from outside, so that they can get enough rest and nutritions after working long time shifts. For example, In North American countries a survey conducted by the health department reveals that in most of the families all the members had lost the interest in cooking food at home, because they want to save their time. Thus, it is benificial for them to eat the outside food for saving the time.

Moving towards the opposite side, it has very bad impact on the health. To explain this, packaged meals and frozen food contains some preservatives that are very dangerous for the human health. Regular intake of these preservatives in the body can cause the disease like cancer and kidney failure. Moreover, majority of the outside food making chains do not obey rules and regulations. So, it is very dangerous to eat the outside food continuously.

To conclude, packaged and restaurants foods saves time, but this food has negative impacts on the human bodies.

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 regular consumption may harm health. The explanation that busy workers have little time to cook is relevant, and the health concerns about preservatives and food-safety practices are also on topic. However, the advantages are developed more fully than the disadvantages, which are asserted rather than supported with a specific example or explanation of how frequent reliance affects diet. The survey example is vague (“a survey conducted by the health department”) and does not clearly establish its source or findings. To strengthen the response, explain the health risks more carefully and add a concrete example, while also considering another advantage or disadvantage such as cost, nutrition, or convenience.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, one paragraph for advantages, one for disadvantages, and a conclusion. The progression is easy to follow, and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Moreover,” and “To conclude” help identify the stages of the argument. This coherent structure is a strength. However, some linking phrases feel mechanical or awkward, particularly “shifting towards the pros of this trend” and “Moving towards the opposite side.” The repeated use of “So” also makes connections between ideas less varied. Some references, such as “this food” in the conclusion, could be more precise about whether they mean restaurant meals, packaged meals, or both. Use more natural transitions and connect each supporting detail explicitly to the main point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate its main ideas, including “packaged meals,” “preservatives,” “regular intake,” and “rules and regulations.” It also attempts some less common expressions, such as “significant advantages and disadvantages.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “the fast food from the outlets,” “outside food,” “lost the interest,” and “nutritions.” Spelling errors such as “benificial” and “times” where “time” is intended also reduce accuracy. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the argument, but they make the language less precise. Build a more natural range of collocations for discussing convenience, diet, and health, and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay includes both simple statements and attempts at longer sentences with reasons and examples, such as the sentence explaining that workers have little time to cook. The main ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “This developments has” has a number-agreement error, and “its saves” should use a subject and verb form that agree. Articles and sentence structure are also problematic in “cooking food at home, requires” and “the disease like cancer.” In the conclusion, “restaurants foods saves” contains agreement and plural-form problems. Review subject–verb agreement, articles, and punctuation around introductory clauses. More accurate control of these patterns, alongside the existing sentence variety, would make the argument clearer and more fluent.

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