Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people believe that professionals, such as doctors and engineers, should be required to work in the country where they did their training. Others believe they should be free to work in another country if they wish.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 4.0)
The given bar chart provides information about how families usually spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.
Overall, families mostly spend their money for daily needs like food or transport. In modern era, leisure has highest percentage of weekly income, on the other hand, in the past food was placed on the first place.
As is shown in the graph, the average weekly spending by families for food was over 35% in 1968, but in 2018 the percentage of spending decreased dramatically to over 17%. Housing had about 10% in 1968 and increased to just over 19% in 2018. Families average weekly spending on fuel and power was the lowest among the others with just about 6% and 4% in 1968 and 2018, respectively. Clothing and footware had over 10% in 1968, and decreased to 5% in 2018.
The average weekly spending by families for household goods was over 7% in 1968 and did not change in the future. Personal goods also had about 7% in 1968, but in 2018 it declined to over 4%. The tansport also had just over 7% like the last two models in 1968, and had increased significantly to about 14%. In addition, the families had spend on leisure about 7% of income, and the percentage grew sharply to over 22% in 2018.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0
The candidate has completely misunderstood the prompt, describing a bar chart regarding weekly household expenditure in 1968 and 2018 instead of discussing the provided Task 2 essay prompt about whether professionals should be required to work in their home country. This represents a complete failure of task completion for an essay question. Furthermore, the length requirement has not been met, as the response contains only 220 words against the 250-word minimum. Because the response addresses a completely different topic and falls short of the word count, it falls into the lowest band categories for Task Achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
Although the response is irrelevant to the prompt, it does follow a standard paragraph structure with an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs discussing different data points. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'As is shown in the graph', 'on the other hand', and 'In addition' are used to connect ideas, though some referencing and transitions are somewhat mechanical (e.g., 'like the last two models'). Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall logical progression is compromised by the complete disconnect from the actual task.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for describing statistical data and charts, using terms such as 'percentage', 'decreased dramatically', 'fluctuated', and 'significantly'. However, there are noticeable lexical and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'footware' instead of 'footwear' and 'tansport' instead of 'transport'. Collocations are occasionally awkward, such as 'families mostly spend their money for daily needs' rather than 'on daily needs'. The range is minimally sufficient for data description, but limited.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'As is shown in the graph, the average weekly spending by families for food was over 35% in 1968, but in 2018 the percentage of spending decreased dramatically to over 17%.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, including 'food was placed on the first place' instead of 'in first place', and 'the families had spend on leisure about 7%' (incorrect tense and verb form). While some sentences are accurate, frequent minor errors occur throughout the text.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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