Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-15

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people have decided to reduce the number of times they fly every year or to stop flying altogether.

Do you think the environmental benefits of this development outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses?

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

Few masses have decided to decrease their number of hours of flying yearly or to stop flying together. I believe that cons of this development more than pros for public and business which will be discussed in upcoming paragraphs.

To commence with , there are several drawbacks of this trend . First and

foremost is that people will face the problem because airplane takes less time to travel and a person can reach their destination on time but if ttime will reduce people can miss their meetings or other important events . Second one is that , it affects the organisations because most of things are delievered by planes everyday if hours will be reduced then they can face issues in their businesses .

In addition, governemnet

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The student attempts to address the prompt by discussing the disadvantages of reducing air travel for individuals and businesses, presenting a clear position in the introduction. However, the response is severely underdeveloped and abruptly cuts off mid-sentence in the second body paragraph due to a very short length. At only 127 words, it fails to meet the 250-word minimum requirement and lacks sufficient extension of ideas and supporting examples. Furthermore, the task is only partially covered, as the benefits side of the prompt is neglected in favour of focusing solely on drawbacks. In accordance with the IELTS band descriptors for Task Achievement, a response that is significantly under-length and presents limited, truncated ideas must be awarded a lower band score. Therefore, a band score of 4.0 is appropriate here.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay attempts a standard structure with an introduction and body paragraphs, utilising some basic cohesive markers such as 'To commence with' and 'First and foremost'. However, overall coherence and cohesion are heavily compromised by the incomplete nature of the text, which trails off abruptly at the end with 'In addition, governemnet'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the second body paragraph remains unfinished, preventing any clear overall progression of argument. Logical sequencing is difficult to maintain when thoughts are cut short. Referencing and cohesive devices are used rather mechanically and inadequately. Based on these limitations in logical arrangement and cohesive management, this section falls under the Band 4 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The student demonstrates a basic vocabulary range suitable for expressing simple ideas, such as 'travel', 'destination', 'meetings', and 'businesses'. However, there are notable lexical errors and unnatural collocations, such as 'Few masses' instead of 'Some people' or 'Few individuals', and 'stop flying together' instead of 'stop flying altogether'. Word choices are repetitive and lack precision, and spelling errors like 'delievered' and 'governemnet' further detract from the quality. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic meaning, but the lack of range and persistent lexical inaccuracies cap the score at this level, reflecting the Band 4 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The response exhibits a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on simple sentences alongside a few faulty attempts at complex clauses. There are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, such as missing articles, run-on structures without proper punctuation, and awkward phrasing like 'because airplane takes less time to travel' and 'if ttime will reduce people can miss'. Furthermore, the sentence structures are frequently disrupted, and the incomplete final sentence demonstrates poor control over sentence construction. Because errors are frequent and occasionally obscure the intended meaning, this performance aligns closely with the Band 4 descriptors for grammar.

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

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