IELTS Writing Task 2: Fast Food & Health (Band 9 Sample)
This "problem and solution" question asks why fast food has become so popular and what can be done about its effects on health. A band-9 response identifies clear causes and matching, realistic solutions, developing each fully. Below is a model answer of roughly 285 words, followed by a breakdown of why it scores 9 on all four criteria.
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01 · The task
Fast food is now eaten by more and more people, despite concerns about its effect on health. Why has fast food become so popular, and what could be done to encourage healthier eating?
02 · Band 9 sample answer
284 words · Band 9Despite widespread warnings about its impact on health, fast food is more popular than ever. This essay will examine why so many people are drawn to it before suggesting some practical ways of encouraging healthier eating habits.
1. Why fast food is so popular
The main reason is convenience. Modern life is fast-paced, and after a long day at work many people simply lack the time or energy to shop for ingredients and cook from scratch. Fast food is quick, requires no effort and is available almost everywhere. Price plays a part too, as processed food is often cheaper than fresh alternatives, while heavy advertising, especially aimed at children, makes it constantly tempting. In short, the unhealthy option is usually the easy, affordable and heavily promoted one.
2. How to encourage healthier eating
Several measures could help reverse this trend. Governments could make healthy food more affordable, for instance by subsidising fresh produce or taxing sugary and fatty products, so that the healthy choice becomes the cheaper one. Tighter rules on advertising junk food to children would also make a difference. Just as importantly, teaching cooking and nutrition in schools would give the next generation both the skills and the awareness to eat well, rather than relying on lectures that people quickly forget.
In conclusion, fast food thrives because it is convenient, cheap and aggressively marketed, but healthier eating can be encouraged by making fresh food more affordable, restricting junk-food advertising and educating young people about nutrition.
03 · Why this scores Band 9
Both parts of the question are answered fully: the causes (convenience, price, advertising) are developed, and the solutions (subsidies and taxes, advertising limits, school education) directly address those causes. The clear cause-then-solution mapping is exactly what this essay type requires.
The essay follows the ideal problem-solution shape — introduction, causes, solutions, conclusion — with one clear idea per paragraph and the solutions mirroring the causes. Cohesion is natural — "The main reason is...", "Price plays a part too...", "Several measures could help...", "Just as importantly".
Vocabulary is precise and topic-appropriate — "fast-paced", "cook from scratch", "processed food", "subsidising fresh produce", "aggressively marketed" — and each solution is expressed with natural collocation rather than vague phrasing.
A wide range is controlled accurately: a "so that" purpose clause ("so that the healthy choice becomes the cheaper one"), a comparative ("cheaper than fresh alternatives"), and a "rather than" contrast at the end of the third paragraph. The writing stays error-free.
04 · Useful collocations for this task
Tap a phrase to see what it means and how to use it. Natural collocations like these lift your Lexical Resource score.
05 · Frequently asked questions
How do I structure a "causes and solutions" essay?
Give one body paragraph to the causes and one to the solutions, ensuring each solution addresses a cause you raised. This model links "convenience, price and advertising" directly to "subsidies, advertising limits and school education".
Do the solutions have to match the problems?
Yes — that link is what pushes the essay to band 9. If you name a cause but propose an unrelated solution, the answer feels disjointed. Every solution here responds to a cause raised in the previous paragraph.
Do I need health statistics?
No. Task 2 tests argument and language, not data. A plausible, well-explained point ("processed food is often cheaper than fresh alternatives") is rewarded; an invented precise statistic is not.
How long should the essay be?
At least 250 words; a band-9 answer is usually 260–290. This model is 284 words, enough to develop both the causes and the solutions without padding.
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