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)

Nowadays, customers from different countries can go to a supermarket buying foods which produced all over the world. Though it has some drawbacks, its advantages outweigh its disadvantages.

There are several reasons why buying foods from supermarkets is essential. Firstly, various types of food items are available in supermarket in every season which attracts the consumers so much. Thus, they can buy different sorts of food items according to their desire and they get a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. Secondly, since you can access different foods items from a supermarket, you can save your valuable time. Secondly, a supermarket generally keeps several types of foods from different nations which is very useful way to get information about their food habits and culture. As a result, customers feel attraction on the foods. Finally, due to many supermarkets offer some discount throughout the years, customers can buy products with reasonable price. So, they can save a lot of money. Moreover, they can utilize those money for another necessary product. For example, last month i saw an advertisement of 30% flat off in a supermarket then I quickly went their for shopping and bought a lot of necessary food products.

In contrast, buying food products from supermarket has some disadvantages. Sometimes people get obsessed with the various types of food products in order to buy from supermarket. They might forget their own culture and food habit which can effect in their tradition. Along with, if many customers tend to go supermarket for buying foods, many retailers may face financial loss. Thus their family may suffer due to economical crisis.

Even though buying foods produced all over the world has some negative aspects, comparatively its positive aspects is greater. Therefore, everyone should go to supermarket in order to buy foods.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, taking a clear position that the advantages of global food availability outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, such as convenience, cultural exposure, and economic benefits. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, the argument regarding 'cultural loss' is mentioned but not fully explored or supported with a concrete example. The conclusion is a bit simplistic and repetitive. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more depth in your supporting arguments and ensure that the examples provided are more analytical rather than just descriptive.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. You use cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'In contrast', and 'Therefore' to link your points. However, some of the transitions feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. For instance, the use of 'Secondly' twice in the second paragraph disrupts the flow. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as 'their food habits' where the antecedent is not explicitly defined. Improving the variety of your linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'essential', 'satisfaction', 'advertisement', and 'economical crisis'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'feel attraction on the foods' (should be 'attracted to') and 'effect in their tradition' (should be 'affect their tradition'). The vocabulary is generally functional but lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher bands. To improve, try to incorporate more topic-specific collocations and avoid repeating basic words like 'food' or 'supermarket' by using synonyms or paraphrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('go to a supermarket'), verb forms ('foods which produced' instead of 'foods which are produced'), and prepositions ('went their' instead of 'went there'). Some sentences are slightly awkward, such as 'due to many supermarkets offer some discount'. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct article usage will significantly improve your accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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