Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-08-21

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In a number of countries, some people think it is necessary to spend large sums of money on constructing new railway lines for very fast trains between cities. Others believe the money should be spent on improving existing public transport.

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 4.0)

The chart below provides information on how frequently people in the USA ate in fast food restaurants from 2003 to 2013. The figures are represented in percentages.

The two highest categories were consumers who ate at a fast food food restaurants once a week and once or twice a month, whereas, the two lowest groups were people in ate there everyday and those who never visited a fast food restaurant.

In 2003, those who ate in a fast food restaurant everyday stood at about 4%, while those who ate several times a week grew significantly to approximately 16%. People who ate fast food once a week increased further to around 31% which represented the highest figure that year. Consumers who ate once or twice a month was nearly 30%.  However, those who ate a few times a year dropped rapidly to around 30%, whereas consumers who never ate in a fast food restaurant was almost 5% which made up the lowest figure that year.

By comparism, in 2006 and 2013 the percentages of people who ate in a fast food restaurant every day remained stable and stood at roughly 3%. However, individuals who ate there several times a week in 2006 and 2013 were roughly 20% and 16% respectively.  Also, those who ate there once a week rose further in 2006 and 2013. In 2006, consumers who ate once or twice a month reduced to almost 25%, while in 2013, the figure increased to roughly 33%. Consumers who ate a few times a year shared the same percentage at stood at almost  15%. Likewise, those  who never ate in a fast food restaurant remained at equilibrum in 2006 and 2013 at about 4%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The prompt asks for an essay discussing the construction of high-speed railway lines versus improving existing public transport, but the student has written a report describing a chart about fast food consumption in the USA. Because the response does not address the task prompt at all, it fails to meet the requirements for Task Achievement. In an official IELTS examination, this would be treated as a memorised or irrelevant response, resulting in a score of 1.0 for Task Achievement as it does not address the topic provided in the instructions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

Despite being off-topic, the response demonstrates a basic level of coherence. The text is organised into paragraphs, and there is an attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'whereas', 'however', and 'by comparison'. However, the logical progression is hindered by the fact that the content does not relate to the task. The referencing is sometimes mechanical, and the flow between ideas is occasionally disjointed. The paragraphing is used, but the overall structure does not serve the purpose of an argumentative essay as required by the prompt.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for describing statistical data, such as 'remained stable', 'rose further', and 'reduced'. However, there are several errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'By comparism' (comparison), 'fast food food' (repetition), and 'equilibrum' (equilibrium). The range of vocabulary is limited to basic descriptive terms for trends. While the student can communicate simple ideas about the data, the lack of topic-specific vocabulary related to the actual essay prompt prevents a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The two highest categories were consumers who ate... whereas the two lowest groups were...'. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'consumers who ate... was nearly 30%' and 'those who never ate... was almost 5%'. Additionally, there are awkward phrasings such as 'people in ate there everyday'. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the response from reaching a higher band.

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

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