Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-27

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)

Many doctors recommend to keep a balanced diet to get all the nutrients that we require. In spite of this suggestion, a number pf people spending their money on vitamin pills because of their hectic daily schedule, unstable weather and lethargic behavior. I think people shorter working hours and health awares can help to persuade people to follow a healthy diet instead of taking supplements.

To begin with, longer working hours have made peoples' life very busy. They are not able to manage their work-life as per their requirements. This hectic life does not provide them enough time to cook a healthy meal for them and this leads them to take vitamin tablets to get all the required nutrients. Another reason could be sluggish nature of the generation. Individuals, these days, are very much lazy and do no want to make a nutritional food. Therefore, relying on pills seems to be a more easy activity for them. Moreover, weather conditions are also responsible for this behavior of general public as change in weather results in change in the lifestyle and eating habbits of people. Consequently, people have to take pills to overcome the deficiency of various vitamins and minerals. For example, in western countries like Canada, people notices the deficiency of vitamin D especially during winter season as they do not get required amount of sunlight and they have to take vitamin D tablets to treat this problem.

In order to encourage people to follow a healthy diet instead of taking supllements, health campaign should be organised to spread the awareness among people about benefits of healthy food and detrimental effects of medicine on human body. These initiatives can prove to be an effective action for the health of society. Furthermore, people should not only focus on their financial needs but also on their body. Therefore, working for fixed hours could be helpfull as they could get time to take care of themselves. For example, working women usually work for shorter hours and prepare meals for the family.

In conclusion, reasons like busy schedules, weather and sluggish nature of people are making them prone to medicine to fulfill their daily dose of vitamins but

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you give reasons such as busy schedules, laziness and seasonal conditions, then suggest health campaigns and shorter working hours. The Canada example helps illustrate the point about vitamin D. However, the response only partly develops the task. The claim that weather changes make people need supplements is broad, and the example describes a genuine deficiency rather than explaining why people spend large sums despite doctors’ advice. The suggestion about working women is also unclear and does not strongly support shorter working hours as a general solution. Most importantly, the conclusion ends with “but” and does not complete the final idea, leaving your overall position unfinished. Explain more directly why pills seem attractive and how practical dietary changes could persuade people.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, a paragraph explaining reasons, a paragraph proposing solutions and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “To begin with,” “Moreover” and “In order to” help signal the stages of your argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes loose: the discussion moves from work schedules to laziness and then weather without clearly showing how these reasons relate or differ. Some links are mechanical, and references such as “These initiatives” are not fully precise. The final paragraph is incomplete, which prevents the essay from closing coherently. Group related reasons more deliberately, use clearer links between claims and examples, and finish with a complete summary of your answer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “balanced diet,” “nutrients,” “deficiency,” “supplements” and “detrimental effects.” This gives you enough language to discuss the subject, but several choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, sometimes making the meaning less clear. For example, “people shorter working hours” does not express the intended solution, “health awares” is not a natural phrase, and “prone to medicine” is unsuitable for describing reliance on pills. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “habbits,” “supllements” and “helpfull.” Aim for precise, natural combinations such as “work shorter hours,” “health awareness” and “rely on supplements,” and proofread spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and more extended sentence forms, including clauses with “because,” “as” and “therefore,” so you are attempting to express relationships between ideas. However, errors occur frequently and sometimes make sentences difficult to follow. For instance, “a number pf people spending” lacks a correctly formed main verb, while “people shorter working hours” is missing the structure needed to express a recommendation. Other examples include “people notices” instead of subject–verb agreement and “working for fixed hours could be helpfull,” where the modal construction is faulty. The conclusion also stops after “but,” leaving an incomplete sentence. Practise building complete clauses, checking verb forms and agreement, and reviewing each sentence for a clear subject and main verb.

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