Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-09

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Write about the following topic: Some people believe that it is good to share as much information as possible in scientific research, business and the academic world. Others believe that some information is too important or too valuable to be shared freely. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

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

Student answer (Band 4.5)

Today, people believe that it is good to share as much personal information as possible in scientific research, business and the academic world. Others believe some information is too important, too valuable, or too sensitive to share freely and should remain private. I will discuss both views in the following paragraph.

In agreement, in my opinion, people share their information with required faculty, like doctors, if they have any major problems. At a scientific level, they collect the information for human research, but we have to make sure they maintain this data. For example, today in social media, people share their personal information without read the terms and conditions and the company asks before they use your information but people have to read all the terms and conditions before agreeing to anything

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You introduce the topic and indicate that you will discuss both views, but the response does not develop the discussion or give a clear, sustained opinion. The example about sharing personal information on social media is relevant to privacy, yet it does not adequately address the task’s focus on scientific research, business and the academic world. The point about doctors and research data is also brief and its connection to the two opposing views is unclear. The response contains 109 words, so it is 141 words below the required minimum; this leaves major parts of the task unanswered and ideas unsupported. To improve, explain why open sharing benefits research or business, why valuable information may need protection, and state your own position with a developed example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an introductory paragraph is followed by a paragraph beginning “In agreement.” However, the promised discussion of both views is not carried through, and the second paragraph combines several points without showing how they relate. The phrase “In agreement” is unclear because it does not identify which view you support, while “I will discuss both views in the following paragraph” creates an expectation that the response does not fulfil. The final sentence also runs on without a clear ending. Use separate paragraphs for the benefits of sharing, reasons for restricting access, and your opinion, and connect each point with clear references and transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the general topic, with relevant terms such as “scientific research,” “personal information,” “sensitive,” and “terms and conditions.” These choices show some awareness of the subject, but the range is narrow and several expressions are imprecise or repetitive. For example, “required faculty” does not clearly describe the people who need access to information, and repeating “information” limits variety. The response also relies on general wording rather than precise terms for the competing views. Build a more topic-specific range, such as language for confidentiality, data protection, intellectual property and public access, and check that each phrase expresses the intended meaning naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use mostly simple sentence patterns and make an attempt at a longer sentence to explain the social-media example. Meaning is generally recoverable, but the range is limited and errors become more noticeable in the longer construction. In “without read the terms and conditions,” the verb form should be “without reading”; the shift from “people” to “your information” also makes the sentence’s reference inconsistent. The final sentence needs clearer punctuation or division into shorter sentences, and “if they have any major problems” is not clearly attached to the point about sharing information with doctors. Practise combining accurate simple sentences with controlled complex structures, and check verb forms, pronoun reference and sentence boundaries.

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.