Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In spite of the advances made in agriculture, many people around the world still go hungry.

Why is this the case?

What can be done about this problem?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Despite significant advances made in agricultural technology and food production, hunger still persists around the globe. There are various factors that impact on the distribution of food and the solution is not that simple. Governments and international organisations need to work togther to figure out a solution to this problem.

To start with, despite the advances, hunger still persists around the world is due to the fact that there is unequal distribution of food, corruption and lack of development in some particular fields. Firstly, food that is being grown does not always reach the people living in poverty, even though there are some schemes initiated by the government, people will rather spend money on drugs rather than by essentials needed. Moreover, the places that are supposedly distribute food to the poor have some corrupt officials who will either rotate these stocks for money or take them away for their personal use. Sometimes food may not reach some places that are present in underdeveloped areas due to the lack of proper roads or even storage. So people there face shortage of food and survive the hunger. For instance, there was a news article where it was highlighted that a corrupt official who was incharge of a government-run ration store, siphoning off grains and other essential to sell in his own store for extra money. As a result, people in need never really got what was supposed to be truly theirs'.

To tackle these issues government or international organisations should work with a honest team and need strict regulations while handling the food items. Government needs to press charges on people who is reponsible for fraudulent activities taken place. They need to hire a honest team who will make the food reaches the people who are in need. International organisations can run food distribution camps and make sure the food reaches every house in particular underdeveloped localities. Awareness programs and advertisments are needed to be done in larger scale to show the negative impacts of hunger so that families living in poverty will rather spend money on food so no child in the family goes hungry, instead of wasting it on drugs or liquors.

In conclusion, a joint action from both government and international organisation with the help of a honest working team can make sure that no person living in the poverty goes to sleep hungry.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for persistent hunger and potential solutions. The ideas are relevant, such as corruption, infrastructure issues, and the need for government intervention. However, the development is somewhat uneven. The claim that people in poverty prefer to spend money on drugs rather than food is a significant over-generalisation that lacks nuance and weakens the argument. While the example of the corrupt official is helpful, the essay would benefit from a more balanced exploration of global systemic issues, such as economic inequality or climate change, to reach a higher band. The position is clear throughout, but the depth of analysis remains at a functional level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organised with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the causes from the solutions. Cohesive devices are present, such as 'To start with', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is interrupted by awkward phrasing, such as 'hunger still persists around the world is due to the fact that'. Referencing is generally clear, though the connection between sentences could be smoother to improve the overall progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'siphoning off', 'fraudulent activities', and 'underdeveloped localities'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'supposedly distribute food' (should be 'supposed to distribute') and 'an honest team' (which is slightly informal in this context). The range of vocabulary is sufficient to convey meaning, but it lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('people who is reponsible'), incorrect verb forms ('make the food reaches'), and punctuation errors ('theirs''). Additionally, some sentences are clunky, such as 'survive the hunger'. While the errors do not impede communication, they are persistent enough to prevent the response from reaching a higher band. A greater focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would be beneficial.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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