Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-11-02

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Concern for the environment is growing and more and more people are choosing to recycle. But some people suggest that recycling is not enough. They believe we need to consume less.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

Some people argue that recycling the products is one of the ideas to tackle the environmental problem whereas other believe that people should consume less as reusing is not enough to solve the environmental concern. While refurbishing is getting famous in many part of the world, waste production has decreased but not significantly. Thus, the less consuming idea was generated where minimalism is getting more famous these days.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You introduce both central views: recycling as a way to address environmental problems and consuming less as a more effective response. However, the task asks you to discuss both positions and give your own opinion, and the response does not develop either view or state a clear personal position. The claim that waste has decreased “but not significantly” is not explained or supported with an example, and the final reference to minimalism does not show why reduced consumption is preferable or how recycling might still help. The response is also substantially below the required minimum length, so it cannot provide the discussion and supporting reasons the task requires. Develop each view with reasons and examples, then state and justify your own conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic progression: it introduces recycling and reduced consumption, then moves to the idea of minimalism. The contrast marker “whereas” helps signal the two positions, and “Thus” attempts to connect the claim about limited reductions in waste to the case for consuming less. However, this progression is very brief, and the relationship between refurbishing, reduced waste, and minimalism is not made clear. There are no developed paragraphs or concluding statement to guide the reader through a full discussion. To improve, organise the essay into an introduction, separate paragraphs for each view, and a conclusion, using linking phrases only where they accurately show the relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “recycling,” “environmental problem,” “refurbishing,” “waste production,” and “minimalism,” so the subject is identifiable. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “consume less.” However, several expressions are imprecise or unnatural: “recycling the products” and “the less consuming idea” do not express the intended concepts naturally, while “environmental concern” is vague in this context. “Refurbishing” also appears without a clear explanation of how it relates to recycling or reuse. Build a more accurate range around waste reduction and consumption, and check collocations so that your vocabulary communicates the argument precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt a complex opening sentence using “whereas,” and the sentence beginning “While refurbishing…” shows an effort to combine a concession with a main clause. These structures make the response more varied than a sequence of simple statements. However, grammatical control is uneven: “other believe” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “in many part of the world” has a plural-form error. The final sentence, “Thus, the less consuming idea was generated where minimalism is getting more famous these days,” has an unclear clause relationship, making the intended meaning difficult to follow. Practise agreement and plural forms, and make sure each subordinate clause connects clearly to a complete main idea.

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