Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-30

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 the recent developments in the agriculture industry, a proportion of population still goes hungry. This is because the advancements are considered qualitative rather than quantitative. Both governments and individuals should be held responsible for the reduced supply of vegetables and fruits.

Although an increased production of food is possible per acre because of novel techniques, the area allocated to farming in countries are reducing. Moreover, major corporations and organizations build an industry on top of farmland, thereby decreasing fertile farmlands. For example, pharmaceutical industries are not allowed to be opened in the city; therfore, it is often opened in nearby sub-urban areas consisting of farms. This means that farmlands are being bought out by the companies and are used for non-agricultural purposes.

It is the responsibility of the government and the individual alike to stop this development. In order to produce sufficient quantity of vegetables and fruits for everybody, farmers should get incentives from the government. If the goverment can give out cheaper seeds, good equipments and a higher rate for the produce, the farmers would be more likelyto not give in to the short-term gains provided by the land-buyers. Additionally, except of few farmers, it has been observed that the modern organic farming practices have not being widely adopted because of the fear of new technology. Farmers are inherently rigid, to make them understand the advantages of modren farming techniques, awareness campaigns shall be conducted by the state or the current generation of agriculturers.

To conclude, while there are cases of hunger despite the invention of new techniques in the agricultural sector, government can solve this problem by encouraging the farmers via policies and incentives directly increasing their profit which will lead to increased supply.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, explaining why people still go hungry despite agricultural advances (loss of farmlands to corporations) and offering solutions (government incentives and awareness campaigns). The position is generally clear throughout the essay. However, some ideas lack full extension and support. For instance, the claim that 'pharmaceutical industries' replace farmlands is a slightly narrow and unusual example to represent a broad global economic trend. Furthermore, the argument regarding farmers' fear of technology is introduced rather abruptly. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the development of ideas remains somewhat superficial in places, aligning the response with a Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay is coherent overall and follows a logical structure with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing causes and solutions respectively, and a brief conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases such as 'Moreover' and 'Additionally' are used, but referencing is sometimes imprecise, as seen with 'except of few farmers' and 'it has been observed that'. Paragraph transitions lack smooth linking, and cohesive devices are sometimes repetitive or slightly unnatural, which prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Overall, the organizational structure is clear enough to merit a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'advancements', 'qualitative rather than quantitative', 'incentives', and 'organic farming practices'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices throughout the text, such as 'area allocated... in countries are reducing' (agreement and collocation issues), 'good equipments' ('equipment' is uncountable), and 'except of few farmers' (incorrect prepositional phrase). There are also spelling errors like 'therfore' and 'modren'. Because the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main points despite these inaccuracies, the response fits the Band 6.0 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures ('If the goverment can give out...') and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the area allocated... are reducing', 'goverment can give out... the farmers would be more likelyto not give in'), punctuation slips ('morelikelyto'), and spelling mistakes ('goverment', 'modren'). While these errors do not seriously impede communication and the basic meaning remains clear, they occur frequently enough across complex structures to prevent the score from reaching Band 7.0.

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

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