Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-13

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Doctors tell us that we can get all the vitamins we need from having a healthy diet. Despite this advice, some people continue to spend large sums of money on vitamin pills.

Why do you think some people spend a lot of money on vitamin pills?

How could people be persuaded to improve their diet instead of buying vitamin pills?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

It is an undeniable fact that people spend huge sums of money on vitamin tablets despite all the advises given by doctors to eat healthy. Although, it is well known that all these tablets are not as good as it sounds, people still consume it in excess amount because it gives a quicker result as compared to the consumption of nutrient rich food. Educating people the after effects is the only way to convince them that it is better to follow a healthy diet rather than buying vitamin pills just because they get every nutrition in the form a tablet.

Having a balanced diet is the best way to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It is important to incorporate nutritious food in the routine of an individual rather than taking vitamin pills. These pills give a faster but not a permanent result, which means they should only be consumed as a supplimentary solution when we are not in a position take good food. Despite knowing this fact, people spend huge amounts in buying these supplements filled with a lot of animal fat, starch, sugar compounds. Altogether, humans who take these pills can be called as chemical factory because they don't have any actual food inside their body which resonates good vitamins and minerals.

People must be provided with proper awareness about the adverse effects of consuming these pills regularly. Even if we consider these chemical compounds healthy, role of exercise still play a significant role in the lives of a healthy person. This is a common trend seen nowadays, especially in youngsters as they say they don't have time to do execise, cook good food and so on. But they forget the fact that it is all for their health.

In conclusion, it can be stated that people avoid eating good and nutrition rich food and spend a lot of their money on vitamin pills due to its ease of access. They seem to be in need of quicker results in whatever they do. Therefore, even if doctors reccomend them to take healthy diet they go behind these vitamin filled bottles without knowing its adverse effects.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you suggest that people choose pills for convenience and quicker results, and you recommend raising awareness of their possible adverse effects. The position that a healthy diet is preferable is clear. However, the explanation of why people spend large sums is brief and partly asserted rather than developed; for example, the claim that pills give “a quicker result” would benefit from explaining what results people expect and why they believe pills provide them. The proposed solution also focuses mainly on awareness, without explaining how this could be delivered or supported. Some claims, such as pills containing animal fat and making people a “chemical factory,” are sweeping and not clearly relevant. More specific, balanced reasons and practical persuasion methods would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The main ideas are generally grouped sensibly, and linking expressions such as “Despite knowing this fact” and “In conclusion” help signal relationships. However, progression is not always smooth: the second paragraph moves from balanced diets to supplements and then to the “chemical factory” comparison, which interrupts the explanation. The third paragraph introduces exercise, although the task is specifically about persuading people to improve their diet, so this point is not fully connected to the central argument. Some references, including “these pills” and “it,” are not always precise. Clearer topic sentences and more direct links between each example and the question would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “balanced diet,” “nutritious food,” “supplements” and “adverse effects.” These choices show an effort to discuss health beyond basic terms. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “all the advises,” “in excess amount,” “every nutrition,” and “nutrition rich food” do not express the ideas naturally. There are also spelling errors, such as “supplimentary,” “execise” and “reccomend.” The phrase “chemical factory” is vivid but imprecise and overly strong for an academic argument. Aim for accurate collocations and a more measured register, especially when making claims about the contents or effects of supplements.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “although,” “which means” and “even if.” The overall meaning is usually understandable, but errors in sentence construction and agreement recur. For example, “Although, it is well known…” uses an unnecessary comma and leaves the opening clause awkwardly connected; “role of exercise still play” has a subject–verb agreement problem; and “when we are not in a position take good food” is missing “to.” There are also issues with articles and number, as in “a healthy diet” after “recommend” and “these pills… it.” Some long sentences combine several ideas without clear grammatical control. Review agreement, infinitive patterns and pronoun reference, and check punctuation around introductory clauses.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.