Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-30

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 all over the world, supermarkets or supershops are being proved to be a widely popular choice for purchasing food, among many other goods. I believe this is one of positive shifts in paradigm of shopping, even though a few regulatory factors should be imposed in order to enhance their strong sides.

The biggest strength of the supershops according to me is, they usually contain a wide variety of products, ranging from fruits, vegetables, regular cooking ingredients, processed snacks etc, upto non-vegetarian options like meat, fish etc. If you visit a supershop, you are very likely to find all types of foods you will need over the next month, all at one place. Furthermore, they generally contain materials relevant to other household works, and clothes, stationaries, souvenirs among many other things. Hence it can practically be considered as a mini shopping mall!

Another positive side of the supershops is that, often you can purchase products in discount, enabling you to save some money as well. Furthermore, some of us are actually quite busy to cook for ourselves; in the supershops, processed frozen foods are available which you can readily cook at your home within minitues, saving you a lot of time.

A bright perspective of supershops often not talked about is they actually serve as a good place where you can roam around and enjoy some quality time. If I speak for myself, in my locality there are not many options to hang out with friends or to have a refreshing time. But since a supershop has been built close to my house, I often visit there to roam around and spend a good load of time relaxing and checking things out, sometimes without even purchasing anything!

Nothing good comes without any trade-offs. In some supershops, expired goods are often sold, which can lead to severe consequences. Moreover, some supershops charges more than usual rate for selective products, which is sort of an harassment of the customers.

Even though there are some challanges to be tackled, I think the positive sides of supermarkets heavily outweighs its shortcomings; and the drawbacks can easily be overcome by proper awareness from both the customers and the authority.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a partial approach to the prompt. While the student identifies the topic as supermarkets and addresses the question of whether this development is positive, they drift away from the specific core theme of the prompt. The prompt specifically asks about food produced all over the world (global food trade and imports), whereas the student writes primarily about supermarkets, convenience, product variety, and shopping as a leisure activity. Because the global sourcing aspect of the food is largely neglected in favour of a general discussion on 'supershops', the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed regarding the specific stimulus. To reach a higher level, the writer must ensure every main body paragraph directly engages with the global availability of food, discussing the implications of importing goods from across the globe rather than focusing exclusively on the general attributes of modern supermarkets.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response exhibits a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the essay into an introduction, several body paragraphs reflecting different viewpoints, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised adequately, with distinct paragraphs handling distinct ideas, such as product variety, discounts, leisure, and drawbacks. Cohesive devices are employed, including transitional phrases like 'Furthermore', 'Hence', and 'Another positive side', though some referencing feels slightly mechanical or repetitive in structure. Logical progression is generally maintained, though the connection between ideas could be smoother. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to refine paragraph transitions and ensure that the progression of ideas tightly binds back to the core prompt from sentence to sentence without abrupt shifts in focus.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the writer's basic message to the reader. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items and phrases, such as 'positive shifts in paradigm', 'regulatory factors', and 'trade-offs'. However, there are noticeable word-choice inaccuracies and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'In all over the world', 'purchase products in discount', 'a good load of time', and 'sort of an harassment'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but these lexical slips prevent the response from attaining a higher level. To improve, the writer should focus on natural phrasing, correct preposition usage, and precise lexical collocations rather than relying on slightly forced academic-sounding expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating that the writer can handle compound structures and subordinate clauses, as seen in sentences like 'Even though there are some challanges to be tackled, I think the positive sides...'. There are, however, several grammatical errors and punctuation slips present throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'some supershops charges', spelling mistakes such as 'challanges' and 'minitues', and awkward articles ('one of positive shifts'). Fortunately, these errors rarely impede overall communication, allowing the reader to follow the argument without severe difficulty. To secure a higher band, the writer must increase control over complex sentence structures and eliminate basic slips through careful proofreading before submission.

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