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, exploring reasons for global hunger such as poverty, political instability, and unequal distribution, while also suggesting solutions including investment in rural infrastructure and international aid. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly in the conclusion where points are restated rather than extended. While the main aspects of the task are covered, the explanations in body paragraphs could be more deeply supported with more precise real-world examples. This performance aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors, as all parts of the task are addressed with relevant ideas, though some areas remain slightly under-developed or repetitive.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure ideas into paragraphs representing introduction, causes, solutions, and conclusion. However, cohesion is at times faulty and mechanical. For instance, transitional phrases like 'On the other hand' are used inappropriately, as the solutions paragraph does not represent a direct contrast to the preceding paragraph about distribution issues. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, and logical progression suffers from abrupt shifts between ideas within paragraphs. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion requires better management. These features fit the Band 5 to 6 range, earning a Band 6 due to the overall logical organization despite mechanical and faulty cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'agricultural advances', 'infrastructure', and 'international organizations'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'millions people' instead of 'millions of people', 'distribution of food is unequally' instead of 'unequal', and 'low income people cant afford it'. Spelling and morphological issues also appear, such as 'caused' instead of 'cause' and 'dont' instead of 'do not'. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main message despite these noticeable inaccuracies, the response comfortably sits at Band 5.5, which rounds to a Band 6 given that communication is rarely impeded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'Although modern farming techniques have increase food production...'). However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('farmer may grow... but due to drought he's unable', 'countries who suffer... also face shortage'), missing articles ('in market', 'provide emergency'), and tense inconsistencies ('have increase' instead of 'increased'). While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, they occur with high frequency and prevent the text from achieving a higher band. This represents the characteristics of the Band 5 descriptor.

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

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