Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-20
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)
Doctor plays pivotal role in human life and they always sugust that we need to have healthy diet for all the vitamins we need but despite this advice, some individuals like to spend large sums of money on vitamin pills. I will discuss why people spend a lot of money on vitamin pills and how could people be persuaded to improve their diet instead of buying vitamin pills in upcoming paragraphs.
To begin with, there are numerous reasons behind it why people like to have vitamin pills rather than healthy diet. First and foremost, most of the individual think it is easiest way to get vitamins to keep themself healthy, so rather than preparing foods which are filled with vitamins they choose to having vitamin pills. Secondly, there are many people who don't aware which vegetables and which foods contain heavy amount of vitamin, so they prefer pills, for example, there are number of vegetarian people who think individuals just get a lot of vitamins from meat because they don't know what kind of vegetable contain high vitamin.
On the other side, there are verity of ways through individuals be persuaded to improve their diet rather than buying vitamin pills. Firstly, through social media need to start some programs which helps individuals know what type of diet have more vitamin and how they prepare it at home. Moreover, government need to start some seminors in which doctors tell people how they get all vitamins with healthy diet rather than having pills.
In conclusion, no doubt, nowadays everyone prefer easiest way to get everything rather than do some efforts that's why most of people prefer vitamin pills rather than having healthy diet, but pills always have some kinds of side effects no matter how much useful they are, so individuals need to prefer which is best for them rather than just which is better.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the task prompt, exploring both why people spend money on vitamin pills and suggesting persuasive methods to encourage a healthy diet instead. The student presents a clear position and supports ideas with relevant explanations, such as the perception that pills are an easier alternative and the lack of nutritional knowledge among certain groups. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed and lack depth of specific examples. While the points are generally relevant, they could be expanded with more precise details or personal anecdotes to reach higher bands. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'To begin with', 'Secondly', and 'On the other side'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward transitional phrasing like 'there are numerous reasons behind it why people like to have vitamin pills'. Paragraphing is present, but the logical progression within paragraphs occasionally feels disjointed due to grammatical stumbling blocks. This places the response firmly at a Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'pivotal role', 'individuals', and 'side effects'. However, there are noticeable word-choice, collocation, and form errors throughout the text, such as 'sugust' instead of 'suggest', 'heavy amount of vitamin' instead of 'high vitamin content', and 'verity of ways' instead of 'variety of ways'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not impeded, and the vocabulary remains minimally adequate to convey the intended meaning, aligning with a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, article usage, and subject-verb agreement throughout the text, including 'Doctor plays pivotal role' (missing articles and pluralisation), 'most of the individual think' (pluralisation error), and 'how could people be persuaded' (incorrect embedded question word order). Punctuation is also basic, with run-on sentences lacking appropriate boundaries. These frequent errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader, representing a Band 5.0.
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.