Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-10

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 5.5)

In recent years, it is becoming a trend for individuals to stay fit and healthy. Doctors give advice to people to take the essential vitamins from fruits or homemade diet. However, individuals prefer to spend money on vitamins pills instead taking from healthy diet.This essay will discuss the both that why people prefer to take vitamins from pills and how can humans persuaded to consume the vitamins through fruit and vegetables.

To commence with, a few pharmaceutical companies creates a positive image in the public. For instance, companies advertise their vitamins supplements at a mass level that how eating these pills makes you healthy and strong rather then having from a healthy diet. Secondary, a few vitamin pills should be only taken through the pills because people can not take from food. For example, in some nations, sunlight is only visible for three-four hours in a day and this will not fulfill the requirements of vitamin D3 in a human body. Thus, having vitamin d3 pills is the only option left for people.

Furthermore , individuals should avoid taking these supplement product because sometimes it can be disastrous for them. A news article revealed that there were five pharmaceutical companies permanently closed in India because they were using harmful chemicals to increase their sales and those chemicals were directly impacting their body organs. Thus, it is better to fulfill the nutrients from healthy diet instead of pharmaceutical medicines.

In conclusion, Individuals should prefer to take the nutrients from a healthy diet and should only take the pills after consulting the doctors advice.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses both questions: it suggests advertising and limited sunlight as reasons for buying supplements, then recommends avoiding potentially harmful products and choosing a healthy diet. These are relevant ideas, but the second part is less fully answered: the essay warns readers about supplements rather than explaining clearly how they could be persuaded to improve their diet, such as through nutrition education, practical advice, or public-health campaigns. The claim that some pills are the “only option” is also broad and would benefit from qualification and support. The conclusion gives a general preference for food but does not bring the two answers together. Develop each main point with a clearer explanation or a specific, credible example to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion, and signposts such as “To commence with,” “Furthermore” and “In conclusion” help identify stages of the response. However, progression is uneven: the paragraph beginning “Furthermore” shifts from how to persuade people to a warning about pharmaceutical companies, so the link to improving diet is not fully clear. The first body paragraph also combines advertising with vitamin D and sunlight without a strong transition between these ideas. Some linking phrases sound mechanical, and the conclusion repeats the general preference for a healthy diet rather than summarising the argument. Organise each paragraph around one clear point and use linking expressions to show the relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant topic vocabulary, including “pharmaceutical companies,” “vitamin supplements,” “vitamin D3” and “nutrients,” and attempts phrases such as “positive image” and “fulfill the requirements.” This gives enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, but word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive, sometimes making meaning less clear. For example, “vitamins pills” and “supplement product” are not natural forms, while “having from a healthy diet” does not express the intended contrast clearly. There are also spelling and form issues, such as “rather then” and inconsistent capitalisation of “vitamin D3.” Build accuracy by learning common collocations for nutrition and health, and check word forms and spelling during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay attempts both simple and more complex sentences, including a reason clause in “because people can not take from food” and a relative clause in “companies ... that how eating these pills makes you healthy.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and frequent errors in agreement, articles, verb forms and sentence construction can make the reader work to understand the point. Examples include “companies creates,” “how can humans persuaded,” and “individuals prefer to spend money ... instead taking.” Sentence boundaries and punctuation also need attention, as in “healthy diet.This essay,” and spacing around commas is inconsistent. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a correctly formed subordinate clause, then proofread for agreement, articles and punctuation.

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