Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-01

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)

The global availability of food in supermarkets is a phenomenon that transformed the way people shop and eat. Consumers can buy everything from the supermarket. Products from all over the world are available in the supermarket. It has many positive and negative aspects. Firstly, lets talk about positive points. It saves the time of people because people don't need to search their desire things from every shop, all things are accessible in the super mart. In the supermarkets of developed countries like America, Canada, France, the out of season fruits and vegetables are available. Moreover, many products that are not found or grow in their native country , are imported from the another country that enhances the economy of that country which exports their goods. In the off-seasonal time supermarket offers sales it is a great benefit. Additionally, supermarket opens the whole day or 24 hours, what a benefit it is. Lets talk about negative drawbacks. The negative points of supermarket are more than positive aspects. Firstly, it has an adverse affect on the environment. Imported things are brought through the ships, trucks and other heavy vehicles which could increase the air pollution. In supermarket, there are many good quality things but they are very expensive. Some people buy the expensive and good quality food from supermarket which effects the local agriculture and farmers. Supermarket gives high quality and expensive seeds, fertilizers and sprays but if they can't work, people lose their money. There is a large crowd in the supermarket which can cause robbery and people lose some important things In short, there are both positive and negative aspects. But it is beneficial for country and their people and harms the environment.

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 example, the point about 'robbery' in supermarkets is not clearly linked to the topic of global food trade, making it an irrelevant argument. While you present a position, it is slightly contradictory in the conclusion, where you state it is 'beneficial' but also 'harms the environment' without clearly weighing these factors. To improve, ensure each point directly supports your stance and provides more depth rather than listing multiple brief ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the structure within them is mechanical. You use basic linking words like 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'Additionally', but the flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed. For instance, the transition from discussing imported goods to supermarket opening hours is abrupt. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'if they can't work, people lose their money', where the antecedent for 'they' is ambiguous. Improving the use of cohesive devices to connect ideas more fluidly would significantly enhance the readability of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. You rely on simple, repetitive phrasing such as 'good quality things' and 'positive and negative aspects'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'search their desire things' (should be 'search for desired items') and 'off-seasonal time'. To reach a higher band, focus on using more academic vocabulary and precise collocations related to global trade and environmental impact, rather than relying on basic, everyday language.

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 clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('supermarket opens', 'it effects the local agriculture'), article usage ('the another country'), and punctuation errors. Some sentences are run-on or fragmented, such as 'In supermarket, there are many good quality things but they are very expensive.' While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors limits the score. Focus on mastering basic sentence construction and proofreading for common grammatical slips.

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