Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)
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 they declined to over 4%. 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 | 2.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 2.0
The candidate has completely misunderstood the task requirements. The writing prompt asks for a discussion of whether professionals should be required to work in their training country versus being free to work abroad, including a personal opinion. However, the student wrote an Academic Task 1 response analyzing a bar chart about family weekly spending in 1968 and 2018. Because this response is entirely off-topic for Task 2, it fails to address any part of the prompt. Furthermore, the response is under-length at 217 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum requirement. Consequently, Task Achievement is severely impacted, resulting in a low score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
Despite being written for the wrong task type, the text itself exhibits a logical structure typical of Task 1 reports. The student uses an introductory sentence, an overall trend statement, and separate body paragraphs detailing specific data points. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of information. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'On the other hand', 'As is shown in the graph', and 'In addition' are employed to guide the reader through the data. However, referencing is sometimes repetitive, and the mechanical nature of the linking words prevents the text from achieving higher bands.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for describing statistical data and trends, featuring terms such as 'proportion', 'percentage', 'decreased dramatically', and 'grew sharply'. The candidate attempts some less common vocabulary related to data analysis (e.g., 'accounted for', 'proportion', 'significantly'). However, there are some awkward collocations and phrasing, such as 'like the last two models' when referring to data categories on a chart. Spelling and word choice are mostly accurate and do not impede communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The text displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, with adequate control over past and present tense structures used for reporting data (e.g., 'spending on food was over 35% in 1968, but in 2018 the percentage... decreased'). There are relative clauses and coordinate clauses used effectively. Grammatical accuracy is reasonably high with few errors, meaning the grammar does not impede the reader's understanding. However, the range of complex structures remains somewhat limited.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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