Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-10

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 5.0)

Nowadays, Doctors give us information that we can gain vitamins by changing our diet into healthier one instead of spending impulsive money on medication. Better choice of food is more beneficial than purchasing vitamin pills. I believe that we should make healthy eating habits rather than relying on pills.

To begin with, one of the main reasons why people spend more money on pills is that they are not willing to compromise with their eating habits. They cannot resist their cravings when they see delicious looking unhealthy food items. They prefer to take a pill after eating vitamin deficient food.

For example ,If someone who is eating same kind of food which is not Enrich with vitamins

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is significantly under the required word count of 250 words, reaching only 117 words. Consequently, the task is not fully addressed. The essay stops abruptly in the middle of a sentence, meaning the second part of the prompt—how to persuade people to improve their diet—is completely ignored. The ideas presented in the introduction and the first paragraph are relevant but remain underdeveloped due to the lack of completion. To achieve a higher band, you must ensure you address all parts of the prompt and provide a full, structured argument that meets the minimum length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay shows some attempt at logical organization, using a transition phrase 'To begin with' to start the first body paragraph. However, because the response is incomplete and ends mid-sentence, the overall progression is severely hindered. There is no conclusion, and the lack of development makes it difficult to assess the flow of ideas. Paragraphing is present, but the abrupt ending prevents a coherent structure from being established. To improve, focus on completing your thoughts and using a wider range of cohesive devices to link your arguments more fluidly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with phrases like 'impulsive money' and 'vitamin deficient food' showing an attempt to express complex ideas. However, there are some awkward collocations, such as 'impulsive money' (which is not standard English) and 'Enrich with vitamins' (should be 'enriched'). The range is limited by the brevity of the text. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and expanding your vocabulary to include more academic or topic-specific terms, such as 'nutritional requirements' or 'dietary habits'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'Doctors give us information that we can gain vitamins by changing our diet into healthier one' (missing article 'a') and 'If someone who is eating same kind of food' (missing article 'the'). The sentence structure is often slightly unnatural. While the errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the clarity of the writing. Increasing the variety of sentence structures and proofreading for basic articles and verb forms will help improve your score.

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

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