Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-19

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)

Doctors advise that eating a healthy meals give us all the essentials vitamins. However, many people expense a lot of money on vitamin pills beacuse they think that a healthy diet provides some vitamins and minerals. In my opinion, they should seek dietary advice from a nutritionist.

Individuals spend a large amount of money on pills in order to complete their daily vitamins requirements. This is because many people are buying tablets from a Pharmacist instead of eating a healthy foods and getting tested to identify vitamin deficiencies. For example, several people are purchasing multivitamins from Costco across the globe. As a result, some people buy many pills, which are not essential for their diet because they get many vitamins and minerals from thier daily meals.

People can complete their vitamins requirements by eating enough fruit and vegetables every day rather than buying unnecessary tablets. This is mainly because maintaining a healthy diet offers almost all the necessary vitamins. For instance, many fruits and vegetables contain all the vitamins and other nutrients. Therefore, people should eat a healthy foods to complete a daily requirements instead of taking pills.

In conclusion, most people are buying expensive pills because many vitamins are essential for body to function, so they prefer to buy many vitamins tablets from a Pharmacist. I believe that a dietician can offer complete diet plan which allow individuals to improve thier diet by eating a healthy foods.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both questions: you suggest that people buy pills to meet their vitamin needs, and recommend improving diet with fruit and vegetables or seeking advice from a dietician. However, the explanation of why people spend heavily is limited and partly unclear. The claim that they buy pills because they think a healthy diet provides only some vitamins is not developed, and the Costco example shows where multivitamins are bought rather than why people are persuaded to spend large sums. Your proposed solution is relevant, but it mostly repeats that healthy food supplies vitamins; explain more specifically how nutrition advice, public information, or other measures could change behaviour. The response is also 12 words below the required minimum, leaving less room to develop these ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two main points, and a conclusion. This makes the overall direction easy to follow. You also use basic linking expressions such as “For example,” “As a result,” and “Therefore.” However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive: the second body paragraph repeats the idea that fruit and vegetables provide vitamins without adding a distinct supporting point. Some links are not fully logical; for example, “As a result” does not clearly follow from the Costco example. The conclusion also restates earlier claims rather than bringing the reasons and proposed persuasion together. Develop each paragraph around a clearer sequence of claim, explanation, and relevant example.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “vitamin pills,” “vitamin deficiencies,” “multivitamins,” “nutritionist,” and “dietician.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, form, and spelling errors make the writing less natural. Examples include “expense a lot of money,” “essentials vitamins,” “complete their daily vitamins requirements,” and “thier.” The repeated use of “healthy diet,” “vitamins,” and “pills” also limits flexibility. Aim to learn accurate collocations and vary expressions where appropriate—for instance, describe people as spending money on supplements or meeting their nutritional needs. More precise vocabulary would also help distinguish between buying pills for convenience, perceived health benefits, or a diagnosed deficiency.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “because,” “which,” and “instead of.” The main message is generally understandable, but errors occur frequently in basic sentence patterns and agreement. For example, “eating a healthy meals give us” has problems with the article, plural form, and verb agreement; “a healthy foods” repeats the article–plural mismatch; and “a dietician can offer complete diet plan which allow” contains article and agreement errors. Some sentence structures are also awkward, such as “This is because many people are buying tablets … instead of eating … and getting tested,” where the relationship between the actions is unclear. Practise accurate noun phrases, subject–verb agreement, and parallel structures before adding more complex 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.