Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-30
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Access to clean water is a basic human right. Therefore every home should have a water supply that is provided free of charge.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 4.0)
The first table provides data about changes in the total population of New York City from 1800 to 2000, whereas other tables illustrate changes in the population of five districts of the city including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island over the same period.
Overall, New York City recorded the highest population in 2000 and the lowest in 1800. Manhattan had the highest proportion in 1900, whereas other districts recorded the most in 2000.
The figure of population in 1800 was 79,216 in New York City, whereas the population reached 3,437,202 in 1900. The population increased to 8,009,185 in 2000.
Manhattan accounted for 76% of population in 1800, whereas other districts recorded 24% of total New York City population. The population of Manhattan decreased to 54% in 1900 and other districts reached to 46%. The percentage of population living in Manhattan fell to 19% in 2000, whereas other districts recorded the highest percentage of 81% in 2000.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 1.0
The student has written an entirely off-topic response. The writing task prompt clearly requires a discursive essay discussing whether access to clean water should be provided free of charge to every home. However, the student has answered a completely different task, describing a table about the population changes in New York City from 1800 to 2000. Furthermore, the length requirement has not been met, with the response containing only 158 words compared to the minimum of 250 words. Because the response is entirely off-topic and fails to address any part of the actual prompt, it receives the lowest band score for this criterion.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
Despite being off-topic, the text demonstrates a basic level of organisation. The student attempts to structure the response by providing an introduction, an overview paragraph, and subsequent detail paragraphs about the population figures and percentages. Cohesive devices such as 'whereas', 'overall', and 'then' are used to link ideas, although referencing is sometimes repetitive. Paragraphing is present, dividing the different points into logical blocks. However, because the overarching content is completely misaligned with the prompt, the progression and logical structure cannot compensate for the fundamental task failure. Therefore, Coherence and Cohesion is marked based on the internal structure of the written text itself.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing statistical data and trends, such as 'proportion', 'accounted for', 'reached', and 'decreased'. While these terms are repetitive, they are used with reasonable accuracy to convey numbers and percentages (e.g., 'The population increased to 8,009,185 in 2000'). However, the vocabulary is entirely limited to basic reporting language and lacks the sophistication or flexibility expected at higher bands. There are no major spelling errors, and the vocabulary choice does not impede the reader's understanding of the data presented, even though the data itself is entirely irrelevant to the exam prompt.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, frequently using subordinate clauses introduced by 'whereas' to contrast different sets of data (e.g., 'Manhattan accounted for 76% of population in 1800, whereas other districts recorded 24%'). There are several grammatical inaccuracies, such as missing articles ('76% of population') and awkward phrasing ('other districts reached to 46%'), but these errors rarely impede communication of the statistical information. The range of structures is somewhat limited and repetitive, preventing the response from reaching higher grammatical bands, but the control of basic grammar is generally functional.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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