Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-10-04

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could.

Why do you think this is?

What can be done to change this?

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could. I completely agree with this statement and in my opinion, this is due to lack of education of the people about the harm it can cause to the environment, weak regulatory and oversight regime, and ignorance of the government.

I would particularly target third world countries such as Pakistan. In Pakistan, people are unaware of the sigificance of recycling. These days, climate change is one of the hot topics, as it is impacting businesses and increasing risk in nearly all the industries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response sits at a low level because it is severely under-length, containing only 82 words, which falls well short of the mandatory 250-word minimum requirement. Furthermore, 14 words copied directly from the prompt were excluded from this count. While the writer attempts to address the two prompts regarding why people do not recycle and what can be done, the ideas are presented only as brief introductory statements and a short, unfinished example about Pakistan. Because the response stops abruptly in the second paragraph, the second part of the task regarding solutions is entirely unaddressed. This results in a very partial response where the position is underdeveloped and incomplete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

At this level, the writing shows a basic attempt to organise thoughts, starting with an introductory sentence and moving into a specific example. However, there is no clear overall progression or development of ideas because the text cuts off prematurely after only two paragraphs. Cohesive devices are minimal, relying mostly on simple conjunctions and referencing phrases like 'In Pakistan, people'. Paragraphing is partially visible, but the second paragraph remains unfulfilled, preventing the text from achieving a coherent structure or logical flow across a full essay format.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication, featuring some attempts at topic-related terms such as 'environment', 'regulatory and oversight regime', and 'climate change'. However, there are notable spelling and word choice inaccuracies, such as misspelling 'significance' as 'sigificance'. The range of vocabulary remains limited and repetitive due to the brevity of the text, preventing the writer from demonstrating the flexibility or precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The writer demonstrates control over some basic sentence structures and manages to construct a complex sentence in the introduction, such as 'In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could.' Grammatical accuracy in the limited output is generally acceptable with correct use of articles and prepositions in simple patterns. However, the range of structures is severely restricted because the essay is cut short, leaving too few sentences to showcase a dependable mix of complex forms or punctuation control.

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

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