Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

It is better to buy just a few expensive clothes, rather than lots of cheaper clothes.

Do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 4.5)

Most of the time it is better to buy clothes of good quality . Although some might consider it negative, I believe it to extremely beneficial. Not only because of good quality, save money in the long run, but also because of more comfortable and sylish.

There are multiple advantages associated with buying branded clothes. Firstly, these clothes have better quality can be considered as a leading benefit of this development. As by buying expensive clothes more money is required thus they provide the better quality of their clothes rather than cheaper. Take an example of Pasha brand which charges more price, but the quality of this is good and also provide the warrant of its clothes variety.

Hence

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is severely under length, containing only 119 words against the required 250-word minimum, which heavily restricts the development of ideas. While the writer manages to state a clear position in the introduction agreeing with the prompt, the ideas are severely limited and under-developed. The first body paragraph attempts to present arguments regarding quality and cost, but stops abruptly mid-sentence with the word "Hence". Because the length requirement is not met and the response is incomplete, it can only achieve a band score of 4.0 under the task achievement descriptors, as the task is addressed only minimally.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay displays some basic attempts at organisation, introducing an opening statement and a first body paragraph. However, there is no clear overall progression because the text cuts off abruptly after two paragraphs. Paragraphing is faulty as the text is incomplete. Cohesive devices are minimal, relying on simple connectors like "Although", "Firstly", and "Hence". Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the phrase "these clothes have better quality can be considered as a leading benefit of this development". Due to the fragmented nature of the text and lack of completion, it aligns best with band 4.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items such as "beneficial", "advantages", and "warrant", but these are often used with noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as "provide the warrant of its clothes variety". There are also awkward phrasings like "buy clothes of good quality" and "charges more price". Although the meaning can generally be made out, the limited range and frequent lexical errors reflect a band 5.0 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures. The writer attempts complex structures, but these are frequently faulty, such as the fragment "Not only because of good quality, save money in the long run, but also because of more comfortable and sylish." There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing verbs, incorrect prepositions, and word-formation issues like "sylish". While simple sentences occasionally appear correct, the density of errors and incomplete sentence structures cause difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar firmly at a band 4.0 level.

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

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