Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
The given bar chart provides information about how families spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.
Overall, families mostly spent their money on daily needs like food or transport. In the modern era, leisure accounted for the highest percentage of weekly income. On the other hand, food accounted for the largest proportion in the past.
As is shown in the graph, the average weekly spending by families on 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 footwear 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 thereafter. Personal goods also had about 7% in 1968, but in 2018 it declined to over 4%. The transport also had just over 7% like the last two models in 1968, and had increased significantly to about 14%. In addition, the families spent 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 | 3.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 3.0
The student has written a response about weekly family expenditure using a bar chart. However, there is a fundamental task mismatch: the prompt provided to the student is Task 2 (an essay about whether professionals should work in their home country), whereas the student has written a response for Task 1 describing a bar chart about family spending. Because this is a complete mismatch, the response fails to address the actual prompt. Additionally, the length requirement has not been met, as the text contains only 218 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum for Task 2. Consequently, the score reflects a failure to address the assigned task, earning a band 3.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
Despite the task mismatch, the text exhibits a logical structure. The student attempts to organise the response with an introduction, an overview sentence, and supporting body paragraphs detailing specific data points from the chart (e.g., 'As is shown in the graph, the average weekly spending...'). Paragraphing is utilised adequately to separate different categories of information. However, cohesive devices are somewhat repetitive and mechanical, relying heavily on phrases like 'in 1968 and in 2018' and 'accounted for'. While referencing is generally clear, the overall progression is limited by the brevity of the response. This performance aligns with the descriptors for Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for describing statistical data and charts, featuring terms such as 'proportion', 'percentage', 'decreased dramatically', and 'grew sharply'. However, the range is somewhat limited and repetitive, with frequent reuse of basic structures like 'accounted for' and 'spending by families'. There are occasional awkward phrasings such as 'The transport also had just over 7%' instead of 'spending on transport'. Spelling and word choice are generally accurate and do not impede communication. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, successfully employing comparative and contrastive structures (e.g., 'while leisure accounted for...' and 'decreased dramatically to over 17%'). Grammatical control is reasonably good with correct use of past and present tenses when referring to data from different years. There are occasional minor errors, such as missing articles ('the transport also had') or preposition choices, but these do not impede overall communication. The grammatical range is sufficient for a Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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