Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries nowadays, consumers can go to a supermarket and buy food produced all over the world.

Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

today most individuals purchase food which imported from other countries. i think it has drawbacks and advantages and this essay will explain both sides.

on the one hand there are positive sides of food produced in other countries. firstly consumers can acquire a chance tasting different and interesting foods such as avocado. moreover it helps to enrich the supermarket menu providing a wide range of goods. secondly consuming foreign foods ensure international trade and communication among different countries. it leads to boost the economy of all countries and gain high revenue from foods.

on the other hand consuming foreign food cause some problems recently. first of all local markets struggle to compete with supermarkets which sell foreign foods and as a result local markets may to be closed. secondly foreign foods are brought by plane or ships and this demands expensive transportation costs. so imported foods are sold costly in the supermarkets. additionally transport damage our environment because plane release carbon emissions to atmosphere.thirdly transporting foods to long distances may cause to delay and expire goods date. as a result foods lose their freshness and harm people s health by poisioning.

in conclusion although consuming imported foods have some negative effects on local business and environment it provides diverse goods and strenghten international cooperations between governments.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the question by presenting both benefits and drawbacks, then conclude that imported food has advantages despite its effects on local businesses and the environment. Relevant points include access to different foods, international trade, transport emissions, and possible loss of freshness. However, the task asks whether this is a positive or negative development, and your position is not fully clear: the introduction says there are both advantages and drawbacks, while the conclusion leans positive without explicitly judging the overall development. Several ideas are also asserted rather than explained—for example, the link between food imports and higher revenue, or how transport delays lead to health risks. The response is 34 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop and support your points. State your overall view clearly and extend key ideas with specific explanations or examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. The signposts “on the one hand,” “on the other hand,” and “in conclusion” help readers follow this structure, while “firstly,” “secondly,” and “additionally” indicate the sequence of points. However, the progression within paragraphs can feel mechanical because several ideas are simply listed, and some links between them are unclear. For instance, the move from transport costs to food being sold at a high price is understandable, but the following claim about delays, expiry, and health risks needs a clearer explanation. Improve cohesion by showing how each point supports your position and by using referencing and transitions that express the relationship between ideas, rather than relying mainly on numbered signposts.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “international trade,” “transportation costs,” “carbon emissions,” and “freshness.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “a wide range of goods.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning less clear. For example, “acquire a chance tasting” is not a natural way to describe trying unfamiliar food, and “expire goods date” does not clearly express that food may pass its expiry date. Spelling errors such as “poisioning” and “strenghten” also affect accuracy. Build a more precise range of phrases for discussing imports, local producers, and environmental effects, and check spelling and collocations when editing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer structures, including a relative clause in “supermarkets which sell foreign foods” and a result clause beginning “as a result.” However, the range remains limited, and errors occur frequently in basic sentence patterns, verb forms, agreement, articles, and punctuation. Examples include “food which imported,” “consuming foreign foods ensure,” and “foreign food cause”; these need an auxiliary or corrected subject–verb agreement. The sentence “local markets may to be closed” also uses an incorrect verb pattern. Missing sentence boundaries and capitalization, as in “atmosphere.thirdly,” make the writing harder to read. Practise accurate subject–verb patterns and verb complements first, then proofread for sentence boundaries and capital letters.

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