Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-27

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)

In this current phenomenon, it is often argued that buyer can directly go to market to buy another nation food. I considerably think that this notion has both positive and negative development and it will be streamlined in the subsequent paragraphs.

There are range of positive development. First and foremost is consumer has wide variety of choice. To explain it further, in this recent era, all country food are easily available globally in every corner of the world. As a result people can try different nation food everyday. Secondly, easy to access. To elaborate this, people can purchase it from local market so they can not go too far to buy it and it can be available at anytime and anywhere. For example, if consumer wants to eat a Kunafa or a Toblure chocolate which made in middle east country like Dubai so they can easily buy from their local markets.

Paradoxically, there are some negative development also. Firstly, it makes the food common. To put it in other words, famous food like Italian, Russian, or a Thai which have very famous dishes. But, due to its easy access in other country, it makes it less popular for other. Secondly, it makes environment disturb. To explain it further, the overseas has to import via air or sea transport which consequently leads towards too much pollution. For instance, if food supply globally through boats, so some of them release sewage or dirty water, which can contaminate the ocean and disturb marine life.

Conclusively, although there are some positive development such as easy to access and wider variety of choice, but negative side like making marine life disturb and making famous food unpopular cannot be ignored.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both positive and negative aspects of global food availability. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument that global food makes dishes 'less popular' is not clearly explained or supported with logical reasoning. Similarly, the environmental point is relevant but lacks depth. While the position is clear, the supporting arguments would benefit from more detailed elaboration and concrete examples that are more closely linked to the core issue of global food trade rather than general statements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'First and foremost', 'Secondly', and 'Paradoxically', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'the overseas has to import', where the subject is imprecise. The conclusion is a bit repetitive, merely restating the points made earlier without adding a final synthesis or a stronger concluding thought.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'another nation food' instead of 'international cuisine' and 'makes environment disturb' instead of 'causes environmental degradation'. The student relies on simple, repetitive structures and basic word choices. To reach a higher band, the student should focus on using more precise collocations and a wider range of topic-specific vocabulary related to global trade and environmental impact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Common issues include missing articles ('in every corner of the world'), subject-verb agreement errors ('consumer wants'), and incorrect word forms ('if food supply globally through boats'). While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. More attention to basic grammar rules and sentence construction is needed.

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

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