Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-25

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)

Nowadays, it is very common in everyone to rely on vitamin pills instead of following a healthy diet. Even doctors are not suggesting drugs and asking patient to have healthy vitamins rich foods to complete their vitamin requirements. Still there are individuals who spend a huge amount of their money in these pills.

The major reason of people buying vitamin pills and not covering it through diet is that they find it hard to follow. They dont want to go to market every day to find the veggies. Everyone want to do things quikly. Additionally, people often see advertisements on social media about vitamin pills that attract their attention. For example: My friend visited to the doctors' office and the doctor asked him that he is has Vitamin C deficiency. So the doctor prescribed him to eat half orange a day to complete the deficiency. My friend followed doctors advice for 2 to 3 days then he saw an advertisment if vitamin c pill and he thought why to waste time and efforts in eating oranges regularly instead I can order vitamin pulls one in for all.

Vitamin pills should be taken only when you do not have access to the foods that can manage your deficiency. Everyone must follow the healthy diet instead of wasting money on pills. This should start from schools. Teachers must educate the students about the importance of the healthy diet. Apart from this, the authority should make a strict rule that no one should be allowed to sell vitamin pills without prescription.

For example: If the government will stop the online market from selling vitamins pills without prescription and educate people to move towards organic foods for their vitamin requirements, then people will understand.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both questions and maintain a relevant focus. The first body paragraph gives plausible reasons for buying pills—convenience and advertising—and the orange example illustrates how an advertisement can change someone’s behaviour. However, the explanation of convenience is brief, and the example is somewhat difficult to follow, so the reasons are not developed equally clearly. You also suggest school education and restricting sales without prescriptions, which responds to how people might be persuaded to eat well. The proposed measures would be stronger if you explained how education could change habits or why prescription controls would encourage healthier diets. Overall, the main ideas are relevant, but some need clearer explanation and support.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, a paragraph on reasons, and a paragraph on possible solutions. Sequencing words such as “Additionally” and “Apart from this” help signal the movement between ideas, and the example is placed alongside the point it supports. However, some connections are mechanical, and the example’s sequence is hard to track, particularly from the doctor’s advice to the friend’s decision to order pills. The final example largely repeats the proposed government action rather than adding a distinct supporting point. Use clearer referencing and transitions to show how each sentence develops the previous one, and make the conclusion more explicit by briefly summarising the main response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including relevant terms such as “advertisements,” “deficiency,” “prescribed,” and “organic foods.” There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “vitamin requirements.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “the major reason of people buying,” “complete their vitamin requirements,” and “move towards organic foods.” Spelling errors such as “quikly,” “advertisment,” and “vitamin pulls” also reduce accuracy. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall message, but they limit precision. Build a bank of natural collocations for health and consumer behaviour, and proofread spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional proposal beginning “If the government will stop…” and a longer example with several linked events. However, control is inconsistent, especially in longer sentences. Examples include “Everyone want,” “the doctor asked him that he is has,” and “the doctor prescribed him to eat,” where agreement, verb forms, or sentence patterns are faulty. Articles and plurals also need attention, as in “asking patient” and “vitamin pills.” These errors sometimes make the example difficult to follow, although the main points remain understandable. Practise building accurate complex sentences, particularly reported speech and conditional forms, and check subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries.

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