Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-17

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)

In spite of the major advances in agriculture, millions people around the world still suffer from hunger. The main reason is the distribution of food is unequally and low income people cant afford it. However, governments and international organizations can play a part and take several safety measures to address this problem.

The major caused of hunger is poverty. Although modern farming techniques have increase food production, many poor people cant afford enough food. This is usually common in developing countries , people who belong from low income families cant buy it. For example, farmer may grow enough crops for his family but due to drought he's unable to harvest them. Maybe he dont have extra money to buy food from market. Additionally, political condition ,wars and countries who suffer from natural disasters, also face shortage for food. People cant transport food in affected areas.

Another significant issue is unequal distribution of food. Many countries produce large amount of food and even waste massive quantity, while others face shortages. Its really difficult to transport food to remote areas because poor communities didnt have well constructed roads, proper storage systems for food.

On the other hand, government should invest in rural infrastructure, water irrigation system and provide proper food storage facilities. This can also help farmers to protect their crops and transport to the market on time. Moreover, government and international organizations should take measures and provide emergency to provide food in affected areas from war or natural disasters. At the same time, stop wealthier countries from wasting food.

In conclusion, hunger will exist because of poverty. If we increase the production or increase modern farming but it will continue due to not equally distributed food. Until or unless we work on several areas , we will never be able to control it

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: why people still go hungry despite agricultural advances, and what can be done about it. The student identifies poverty, war, natural disasters, and unequal distribution as the main reasons, and suggests government investment in infrastructure, food storage, and emergency relief. However, some ideas are under-developed and lack extension. For example, the sentence "farmer may grow enough crops for his family but due to drought he's unable to harvest them" jumps into a specific narrative rather than fully elaborating on broader economic causes. The position is generally clear throughout, but the depth of support places this response firmly at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is arranged logically with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing causes and solutions, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used adequately to separate ideas. However, cohesion at the sentence level is often mechanical or faulty. Phrases like "On the other hand" are used inappropriately since the solutions do not contrast with the causes. There are also referencing issues, such as "didnt have well constructed roads, proper storage systems for food" lacking smooth connective tissue. Overall, the essay shows a coherent arrangement, but cohesive devices are sometimes misused or absent, aligning with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, touching on terms such as "international organizations," "agricultural advances," and "emergency relief." However, there are frequent lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as "millions people," "distribution of food is unequally," "low income people cant afford it," and "major caused of hunger." Attempts at less common vocabulary sometimes lead to unnatural collocations. While communication is not severely impeded, these repeated errors prevent the score from reaching Band 6.5 or higher.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and concessive clauses ("Although modern farming techniques have increase food production..."). However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing apostrophes ("cant", "he dont"), tense inconsistencies ("have increase"), missing articles ("farmer may grow"), and punctuation slips. Although the meaning remains largely clear and communication is not impeded, the high frequency of basic grammatical and punctuation errors restricts the score to a Band 5.5.

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.