Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-28

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 the majority of countries people now prefer buying food from supermarkets which is imported from all over the world. Although, the imported items might be high in prices, it has a positive impact on the development of countries.

Nowadays, many countries can grow economically with this idea. There are many countries around the world which depend on export industry for their financial stability. Moreover, people can enjoy the variety of food. For example, a lot of countries do not have ideal climatic conditions for the cultivation of certain type of fruits, and vegetables. The availability of such items in the supermarket has made it easy for people to access the food with all type of nutrients.

The transportation of edible items also builds a positive relationship within the countries. The trade has made it easy for people to know about each others cultural dishes, native fruits, and spices. Furthermore, in emergency situations, when crop gets damaged because of abiotic or biotic factors like drought or pest attack, the imported products can be used to overcome the food demand.

However, the transportation of food products over long routes has some problems involved such as high prices, compromised food quality, or air pollution. These problems can be solved by proper planning.

In conclusion, as the population is increasing and so the demand of food, having a variety of food available has a positive impact on the development.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether the global food trade is a positive or negative development, taking a clear positive stance. Key ideas such as economic growth, dietary variety, cultural exchange, and food security in emergencies are presented and supported with examples like climatic limitations and pest attacks. However, a significant drawback is that the word count is 236 words, which fails to meet the minimum requirement of 250 words. This under-length impacts the full development of ideas, restricting the response to a Band 5.0 for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is generally coherent and follows a logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs discussing economic benefits, dietary variety, cultural relationships, and counterarguments, concluding with a summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', and 'However', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, and overall arrangement is logical, meeting the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate ideas about trade, agriculture, and the environment. There are attempts at less common lexical items such as 'financial stability', 'climatic conditions', and 'abiotic or biotic factors'. However, there are some minor word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'high in prices' instead of 'expensive' or 'high in price', and 'demand of food' instead of 'demand for food'. These errors do not impede communication, placing the vocabulary firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or participial elements such as 'when crop gets damaged because of abiotic or biotic factors'. There are several grammatical errors present, including an article omission in 'certain type of fruits' and a singular/plural mismatch in 'when crop gets', as well as a slight structural awkwardness in 'and so the demand of food'. Nonetheless, these errors do not impede communication and sentence forms show decent variety, warranting a Band 6.0.

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