Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-14

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 4.5)

In recent years, buying the goods from local market instead of to import goods from foreign countries has increasingly common in many countries. There are several reasons for this trend and I believe that it is a positive development.

There are several reasons due to this trend is very common. One major reason is that people wants to support local farmers and workers. When people buy locally produced goods, it helps the local farmers to generate their income which would be helpful to run their families. For example, there are several small workers who totally depend on daily base

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response only contains 99 words, which severely falls short of the mandatory 250-word minimum length requirement specified for Task 2. Consequently, the essay fails to fully address all parts of the task, leaving the discussion regarding the reasons for buying local and whether it is a positive or negative trend severely underdeveloped and incomplete. The writer manages to introduce the topic and state a position that it is a positive development, and begins to touch upon supporting local workers, but the abrupt termination of the text prevents any full exploration of the prompt. Due to the significant under-length penalty, this performance corresponds to a Band 4.0 under Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text is organized into two initial paragraphs, showing an attempt at paragraphing with an introduction and the start of a body paragraph. However, because the text cuts off mid-sentence ('daily base'), the overall progression is heavily disrupted. Cohesive devices used in the opening are basic, such as 'In recent years', 'There are several reasons', and 'One major reason'. While the logical flow is somewhat present in the opening sentences, the inability to complete the response limits the demonstration of cohesive control. Based on the language that is present, the cohesion is basic and incomplete, fitting the descriptors for Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used throughout the short text is basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'buying the goods', 'local market', and 'foreign countries' show a limited range of lexical resources. There are also noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'to import goods' instead of 'importing goods' and 'small workers' instead of 'small business owners' or 'local workers'. The vocabulary is minimally adequate for basic communication, but the restricted range and inaccuracies prevent it from achieving a higher band. This performance aligns with Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'In recent years, buying the goods from local market instead of to import goods from foreign countries has increasingly common'. However, this sentence contains severe grammatical errors, missing the verb 'to be' ('has increasingly common') and using an incorrect infinitive after a preposition ('instead of to import'). Another error appears in the second paragraph: 'There are several reasons due to this trend is very common' and 'people wants' (subject-verb agreement error). Because of the frequency of basic grammatical errors and the incomplete final sentence, the grammar control corresponds to a Band 4.0.

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.