Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-02
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 modern society, consumers go to a supermarket and purchase food produce all over the world. While I think this is a positive development and as well it has certain drawbacks which I am going to describe this essay .
On the one hand, in various countries nowadays individuals mostly prefer to purchase goods from supermarket rather than a conventional store. The positive development of this things is to make people life more convenient and to minimize time consumption which takes to buy products from different stores.This is because purchasing goods from supermarket helps people to maintain time and reduce efforts to go for shopping on another store since everything is available at a departmental store.For instance: If someone is on hurry to go shopping and want to purchase everything from a store he/she can go to supermarket instead of retail shops. Therefore, it is feasible to go for shopping in supermarket and it assists people to find the items they tend to purchase.
On the other hand, it has certain drawbacks also in this development. The major negative impacts of this development is individuals need to go on city to find supermarket. This is mainly because in rural area there is no facilities of supermarket and people need to travel to the city for shopping. A clear example of this when a person wants to buy something which is essential for daily use he/she need to go urban area which can increase the expenses of transportation. Thus, going for shopping in supermarket can create financial problem since it is expensive to shop there.
In conclusion, the positive effect of this development is we can buy every product from supermarket and the negative effect of this is supermarket is not widely available in every places in village areas.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt, but the focus is slightly off-topic. The prompt asks about the global nature of food (food produced all over the world), but your essay focuses almost exclusively on the convenience and location of supermarkets. You mention 'purchasing goods from supermarket' as the main point, failing to discuss the implications of global food trade, such as environmental impact, food security, or cultural variety. While your position is clear, the ideas are not fully developed in relation to the specific topic provided. To improve, ensure you analyze the 'global' aspect of the food supply chain rather than just the retail format of supermarkets.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' to signal shifts in your argument. However, the flow within paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, and some transitions are repetitive or awkward, such as 'The positive development of this things is...'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the concluding sentence is quite simplistic, failing to summarize the main arguments effectively. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on repetitive phrasing, such as 'purchase goods' and 'go for shopping'. There are also some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'maintain time' (instead of 'save time') and 'no facilities of supermarket' (instead of 'no supermarket facilities'). To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more sophisticated synonyms and collocations related to the topic of global trade and consumer habits, while ensuring that your word choices are natural and accurate.
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 subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'supermarket are not widely available'), article usage (e.g., 'in rural area'), and awkward phrasing (e.g., 'If someone is on hurry'). While the meaning is generally clear, these persistent errors in basic grammar and punctuation prevent the writing from reaching a higher level of accuracy. Focusing on proofreading for basic errors and practicing more complex sentence structures would be beneficial.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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