Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-30

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 recently , an increasing number of customer purchased food manufactured globally at a supermarket instead of local traditional shops while this trends offers certain advantages, i believe it even bring some drawbacks i believe that this trend has positive as well as negative outcomes .And in this essay ,i will discuss the reason for my opinion.

in the past ,access to foreign food stuff was limited and so supermarket were restricted to stocking seasonal and traditional food stuff on their selves .However nowadays these supermarket stock a good variety of food produced internationally. This is the result of increased global trade , owing to improved international transport and communication capabilities. such improvement help consumers experience the different flavors that imported foods have to offer. consumer also gain from the nutritional benefits of off-seasonal fruits and vegetables that are otherwise not available locally at that time .And lastly ,imported edible helps individuals learn about the food of the countries where they originate from.

Conversely ,the other reliance on imported food product could have a number of unfavorable outcomes. local farmers could face price competitions from cheaper imported agriculture produce, furthermore, cheap and low quality food items that are imported from abroad can adversely affect the probability of the domestic food processing industry .this is why in some cases the drawbacks of having imported food could out-weigh their benefits to the local economy.

In conclusion, on one hand ,the availability of imported food is a positive development for consumers, on the other hand however, it has negative effects on the domestic farming as well as food processing industries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both the positive and negative aspects of the topic as required. The position is clear from the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the point about 'nutritional benefits' is mentioned but not explained in detail, and the argument regarding the 'domestic food processing industry' is vague. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific examples or deeper analysis for each point raised. The conclusion is a bit brief and merely repeats the points made rather than synthesising them effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'However', 'Conversely', and 'In conclusion', which help the flow of the text. However, some transitions feel mechanical, and there are issues with punctuation and sentence structure that occasionally disrupt the flow. For example, the opening sentence is a run-on with poor punctuation, which makes the initial reading disjointed. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey their meaning. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'nutritional benefits' and 'domestic food processing industry'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choices and collocations, such as 'food stuff' (should be 'foodstuffs'), 'on their selves' (should be 'on their shelves'), and 'imported edible' (should be 'imported food items'). These errors indicate a limited range for more precise expression. Expanding your vocabulary to include more academic collocations would significantly improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include incorrect preposition usage ('In recently'), subject-verb agreement errors ('this trends offers'), and punctuation mistakes (missing commas and incorrect capitalisation). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles and prepositions. Reducing these frequent slips will allow for a higher band score.

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