Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-22

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)

While some advocate availability of global food products in the supermarkets provides customer a better choice, I believe that it is a highly negative development because the supply chain cause environmental degradation by transportation emissions, and hamper the local economy.

First and foremost, there are several reasons why I hold this view. One possible reason is global food supply needs a strong transportation network, which includes cargo ships, air shipment, refrigerated trucks. Consequently, this excessive use of fossil fuels causes huge carbon emissions. Moreover, supershops use deathly chemical substance to preserve the food products, which ultimately cause numerous severe disease. By increasing the longevity of the foods, shops maximize their corporate revenue. For example, in Bangladesh, supershops are frequently fined for using unauthorized preservatives to increase the longevity of foreign food items.

Furthermore, massive dependency in the foreign foods can decrease the local foods supply, which ultimately hamper the rural farmers, which cause economic disruption. The rural farmers can not compete with the detrimental perspective of modern consumers. As a result, these people move towards the urban area for better opportunities. Consequently, the farms may disappear in a long run and creates a huge burden on the government. For instance, rapid demographic migration of the rural youth causes significant crowd in the cities, and local farms are finding it hard to manage labor for the crop cultivation.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that there are lot of sector behind the global food product availability. Although people find it easy to get those from the supermarket, but this idea cause environmental pollution, economic downfall, and infrastructural strain.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position against the global food trade. The ideas are relevant, focusing on environmental and economic impacts. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The point about 'deathly chemical substances' is a strong claim that lacks nuance, and the connection between global food and 'severe disease' is asserted rather than fully explained. While the example regarding Bangladesh is specific and relevant, the essay would benefit from a more balanced acknowledgment of why this trade exists, as the prompt asks for a discussion on whether it is a positive or negative development. The position is consistent, but the depth of analysis could be improved to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Moreover', and 'Furthermore' are used to guide the reader through the argument. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly repetitive. There are also instances where the flow is interrupted by minor errors in referencing, such as 'which cause economic disruption' following a clause that already contains a relative pronoun. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion, which helps the reader follow the writer's line of reasoning.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'environmental degradation', 'detrimental', and 'infrastructural strain'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'supershops' (a regional term), 'deathly chemical substance' (should be 'harmful' or 'toxic'), and 'lot of sector' (should be 'many sectors'). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of the argument. Expanding the range of academic collocations would help improve the score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the writer attempts complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'the supply chain cause', 'this idea cause') and article usage. Punctuation is generally functional, though there are some awkward phrasings, such as the use of 'but' after 'Although' in the conclusion, which is a common error. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout the text. To achieve a higher band, the writer should focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and refining the use of complex sentence structures to reduce the frequency of errors.

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