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 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 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 other categories 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 on 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 categories in 1968, and had increased significantly to about 14%. In addition, families spent about 7% of their income on leisure, and the percentage grew sharply to over 22% in 2018.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0
The student has written an essay that completely misinterprets the prompt. The task required a discussion on whether professionals should be required to work in their home country versus being free to migrate, along with a personal opinion. Instead, the candidate has written a response describing a bar chart comparing family spending in 1968 and 2018 (which corresponds to an Academic Task 1 prompt). Furthermore, the response is under-length, containing only 217 words against the 250-word minimum requirement. Consequently, the task achievement is severely compromised as it fails to address the prompt entirely.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
Despite being off-topic for the prompt, the text demonstrates a coherent structure typical of a Task 1 report. The response begins with a clear overview ('Overall, families mostly spent their money on daily needs...') and follows a logical progression through the data categories. Paragraphing is used appropriately to group related ideas, and basic cohesive devices such as 'In the addition', 'On the other hand', and 'respectively' are employed to connect sentences, although some transitions feel somewhat mechanical.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The lexical resource used in the response is adequate for describing data trends, featuring vocabulary such as 'proportion', 'accounted for', 'decreased dramatically', and 'grow sharply'. However, the vocabulary is limited to basic descriptive terms and fails to engage with the actual socio-economic subject matter of the Task 2 prompt. There are no notable spelling or word-choice errors within the sentences provided, but the range remains restricted due to the task mismatch.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a reasonable mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'While families spent their weekly income on daily needs, leisure accounted for the highest percentage.' Grammatical control is generally sound, with accurate past and present tense usage ('was over 35% in 1968, but in 2018 the percentage decreased'). Punctuation is also handled correctly throughout, and errors are infrequent, allowing the reader to follow the intended data descriptions without difficulty.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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