Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-29

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 advised to have a nutritious diet so that bodys' vitamin needs will be fulfilled but some people are eagerly buying costly vitamin pills instead of improving their eating habits.I believe that having a balanced and healthy diet can save you from spending a bulk amount of money on vitamin pills.

On the first hand, we can get our vitamins from a healthy diet as meat and vegetables are the rich source of minerals and vitamins.For instance, people having vitamin A deficiency can eat enough carrots and other rich sources to cope this lacking instead of haing vitamin A injections or tablets.By improving eating habits we can overcome half of our body issues.

On the other hand, people spending large amount of money on vitamin pills are those that couldn't fulfill their needs through diet.Vitamins defeciency in our body needs a lengthy diet plan that continues for months and years. People who are eager and can't wait that long rush to buy pills.One main role is the pharmaceuticals companies as they advertise their product in such a captivating way that people can't resist themselves.

As it's an era of technology we can raise compaigns on social media to tackle this issue.Moreover, doctors can also advice patients by giving diet charts or display them in their healthcare setup so people will spend on the dietary products instead of buying vitamin pills.

In conclusion, I think it is the governments role to educate people to take a healthy diet and maintain healthy lifestyle habits. People should take doctors advice more seriously instead of applying their own schemes.It would be beneficial for themselves.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions: you suggest that impatience with a lengthy diet plan and persuasive pharmaceutical advertising encourage pill purchases, then propose social-media campaigns and doctors’ dietary advice. These are relevant points, but they are not developed evenly. The explanation that people “can’t wait that long” would be stronger with a specific reason or example, and the campaign suggestions need more detail about how they would change behaviour. The opening focuses on the benefits of a healthy diet rather than directly establishing why people buy pills, while the conclusion mainly calls for education and does not bring the two answers together. A clearer, consistently maintained position and fuller support for each main idea would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion, and the ideas generally follow a sensible order. Paragraphs also separate the reasons for buying pills from possible solutions. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the first body paragraph discusses the benefits of food-based vitamins, which does not directly explain why people spend money on pills. Linking phrases such as “On the first hand” and “On the other hand” are used mechanically, and the relationship between the diet example and the main argument is not always explicit. Use topic sentences that directly answer each question, then connect examples to those claims with clear referencing and transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “nutritious diet,” “vitamin deficiency,” “pharmaceuticals companies,” and “diet charts,” so the reader can follow the main ideas. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “captivating way.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or unnatural, as in “cope this lacking,” “a bulk amount of money,” and “apply their own schemes.” Spelling errors such as “haing,” “defeciency,” and “compaigns” are noticeable, and some expressions are repeated rather than varied. Build a more reliable range of health-related collocations and check spelling; this would make your meaning clearer and more precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a purpose clause (“so that…”) and a relative clause (“those that…”). The overall meaning is usually understandable, but errors occur across sentence structures and often make the reader pause. For example, “Doctors advised to have” lacks a clear subject for the advice, while “people spending large amount… are those that couldn't fulfill” has problems with article use, number agreement and tense consistency. Apostrophes and sentence boundaries also need attention: the opening runs into the next sentence, and “bodys'” is not correctly formed. Practise building accurate clauses and checking agreement, articles and punctuation before adding more complex structures.

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