Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-08-29

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some consumers are increasingly choosing to buy goods that are produced in their local area, rather than imported goods.

What are the reasons for this?

Is this a positive or a negative trend?

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

People are choosing to buy local marts. Because of that, they do not prefer imported products; people are known for where they buy good products or cheap ones at a local market.

Firstly, I want to say that people understand good things or cheap products because they know where they buy them. Mostly are prefer

to purchase from a local market. There is a price difference between local and imported products. My family is in Canada, brother buys good things in the local market, but sometimes he has to buy imported products just because of the different prices.

Secondly, once my brother takes groceries to the local mart, it's just

mostly they were on a controlled budget for our home. He is married; he has three kids, also school-going; matter of fact, they want some imported products, which are costly

Finally, people buy good things from local marts

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While the prompt asks for reasons and an opinion on whether the trend is positive or negative, the response is underdeveloped and lacks a clear, sustained position. The ideas presented—such as price differences and family shopping habits—are fragmented and do not fully address the complexity of the prompt. Because the response is substantially under-length and lacks sufficient detail to explore the topic, it falls into the lower band range.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay lacks a logical structure. Although there are attempts at paragraphing with 'Firstly' and 'Secondly', the progression of ideas is disjointed. The sentences within paragraphs do not flow logically, and the relationship between ideas is often unclear. Cohesive devices are used in a very mechanical and sometimes incorrect way, such as the abrupt transition in the final paragraph. The lack of a clear introduction or conclusion further hinders the overall coherence of the piece.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary is very basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'good things' and 'cheap products' are used repeatedly, indicating a limited range of expression. There are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'people are known for where they buy good products' and 'once my brother takes groceries to the local mart'. The vocabulary is insufficient to express complex ideas or arguments effectively, which limits the ability to convey precise meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The grammatical range is extremely limited, consisting mostly of simple, error-prone sentences. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement, tense usage, and sentence structure, such as 'Mostly are prefer to purchase' and 'he has three kids, also school-going'. These errors are frequent and often impede the reader's understanding of the intended message. There is no evidence of complex sentence structures, and the punctuation is inconsistent throughout the text.

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

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