Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-01

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)

Doctors advise people to have all the required vitamins from a healthy diet, on the contrary, some individuals prefer to spend huge money on vitamin pills. There are a lot of reasons behind this and i will discuss how people can enhance their diet rather than having vitamin pills.

The first reason why people prefer to have vitamin pills is that it is really difficult to have all the vitamins from even balanced meals and that is not enough for the healthy operations of the body. For instance, if you are having steak, potatoes and veggies bowl, even if it is a healthy meal, one cannot get all the vitamins from it. Moreover, Food quality is decreasing day by day as the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in the crops is common which deteriorates the density of nutriets in the diet. Furthermore, these days, Genetic Mosification process is used to make some fruits and vegetables for all over the year

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response sits at this band because it responds to the task only minimally and fails to meet the required word count minimum of 250 words, stopping abruptly at just 161 words. While the writer manages to touch upon the first part of the prompt regarding why some people spend money on vitamin pills, mentioning ideas like the difficulty of getting all nutrients from balanced meals and concerns over food quality and pesticides, the second part of the prompt regarding how people could be persuaded to improve their diet is completely unaddressed due to the truncated length. Ideas remain limited and under-developed, and the response lacks the extension and support necessary for a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response shows some organization with basic introductory framing, such as 'The first reason why people prefer to have vitamin pills is...', but lacks clear overall progression. Paragraphing is noticeably deficient; the text is presented as a single block following the introduction, and the abrupt cut-off prevents any logical conclusion or development of the second prompt question. Cohesive devices are minimal, and referencing is sometimes repetitive or mechanical, restricting the flow of ideas. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to ensure full development of all prompt parts with distinct, well-managed paragraphs that build a logical argument from start to finish.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary suitable for tackling the topic, attempting some less common phrases such as 'synthetic fertilizers', 'nutrient density', and 'Genetic Mosification process'. However, noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling occur throughout the text, including the misspelling 'Mosification' instead of modification, and awkward phrasing such as 'spend huge money' instead of 'spend a huge amount of money' or 'spend heavily'. These inaccuracies reflect a band where vocabulary is sufficient to communicate basic ideas, but lacks the precision, stylistic awareness, and collocation control required for higher levels.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response relies on a limited range of sentence structures, with frequent errors that occasionally cause difficulty or hesitation for the reader. There are issues with capitalization, such as using a lowercase 'i' for the personal pronoun ('i will discuss'), and punctuation mistakes, including comma splices and run-on structures like in the opening sentence ('Doctors advise people to have all the required vitamins from a healthy diet, on the contrary, some individuals...'). Attempts at complex sentences are sometimes faulty or overly protracted without proper punctuation control. To reach a higher score, the writer must demonstrate greater control over simple and complex sentence forms, accurate punctuation, and correct capitalization.

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

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