Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-01

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 6.5)

In many countries, supermarkets now allow consumers to buy a wide range of food products from around the world. This development allows consumers to enjoy variety of products and try international foods. However, this development can also result in higher prices and increased carbon emissions. In my opinion, this is a positive development because It allows a consumer to buy a wider range of products throughout the year.

One major advantage is the availability of products throughout the year. Consumers can enjoy these products throughout the year because they are not completely dependent on the local climate. When certain food cannot be grown locally because of climatic or geographical condition, they can be imported from other countries. As a result, international food trade gives consumers more choices and greater availability. Consumer can try international foods that are not available locally. For example, if mangoes are not produced locally, they can be imported from other countries, allowing consumers to enjoy them without travelling abroad.

The transportation of food over long distances requires a large amount of fuel, which can increase air pollution and carbon emissions. In addition, imported food can be more expensive than locally produced food because of transportation costs and import charges. For example, dragon fruit imported from Vietnam may be more expensive in another country because of transportation and import costs.

In conclusion, although imported food can be more expensive and can negatively affect the environment through carbon emissions. I believe that it is a positive development overall. The greater variety, availability and choice of food provide considerable benefits to consumers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, which is a strong feature of this band level. In the introduction, you state your opinion that global food availability is a positive development, and you maintain this stance through to the conclusion. However, some ideas are under-developed rather than fully extended. For instance, the paragraph detailing the disadvantages regarding transportation costs and carbon emissions is somewhat brief and relies on a single general example of dragon fruit. To reach the next level, you need to fully develop and support all your main points with deeper explanations or more robust examples, rather than just introducing them briefly before moving on.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and a concluding summary. You use clear paragraphing, devoting separate sections to the advantages and disadvantages. However, cohesion is at times a bit mechanical and repetitive. For example, the phrase 'throughout the year' is repeated multiple times in close proximity in the second paragraph, and referencing is occasionally basic. While cohesive devices are generally used to link your ideas, they lack the smoother flexibility characteristic of higher bands. To improve, you should vary your cohesive ties and ensure that referencing pronouns point back clearly without unnecessary repetition of whole phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, successfully conveying your main ideas about global food trade. You attempt less common vocabulary items, such as 'climatic or geographical condition', 'import charges', and 'carbon emissions'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as writing 'variety of products' missing the article 'a', and minor repetitive use of standard words like 'products' and 'development'. Spelling and word choice errors do not impede communication, which aligns well with this level. To achieve a higher band, you need to demonstrate a wider and more flexible range of lexical items, incorporating less common phrasing and precise collocations more naturally and accurately throughout the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like conditional ideas ('When certain food cannot be grown...') and subordinate clauses quite effectively. There are some errors in grammar, such as singular/plural agreement ('geographical condition' instead of conditions, 'Consumer can try' instead of Consumers can) and a punctuation issue in the conclusion where a full stop is used incorrectly before 'I believe'. Fortunately, these errors rarely impede communication and your meaning remains clear. To progress further, you need to produce a higher frequency of error-free complex sentences and exercise tighter control over articles, plurals, and punctuation mechanics.

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