Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-30
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 bar graph compares how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and 2018.
Overall, food accounted for the highest percentage of expenditure in 1968, whereas leisure represented the largest proportion in 2018. Moreover, personal goods and fuel/power had the lowest percentages in 2018, while fuel/power had the lowest percentage in 1968. Spending on household goods remained the same in both years.
Food accounted for 35% of expenditure in 1968, whereas housing and clothing/footwear each accounted for 10%. Transport and household goods each represented 8% of expenditure. Leisure and fuel/power accounted for 9% and 6%, respectively, in 1968.
Leisure had the highest percentage in 2018, with families spending 23% of their income on this category, while spending on housing rose to 18%. Fuel/power and personal goods each accounted for 4% in 2018, while food represented 17% of expenditure. Transport accounted for 14% of the total, whereas household goods remained at 8%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 1.0
Although the student's writing is clear and covers the main trends in the bar graph, they have written an Academic Task 1 response (describing a chart about weekly income in 1968 and 2018) instead of the required Academic Task 2 essay on whether professionals should be forced to work in their training country. Consequently, the response is completely off-topic for the assigned prompt and falls drastically short of the 250-word minimum requirement, containing only 154 words. Because the task response is entirely misaligned with the prompt, it cannot be awarded a passing band.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
Despite being written for the wrong task type, the text itself exhibits a clear logical structure. It begins with an introductory overview and follows with well-organized body paragraphs that group data logically (comparing 1968 and 2018). Cohesive devices such as 'whereas', 'moreover', and 'while' are used accurately to contrast categories. Paragraphing is also handled appropriately, separating the overview from the specific data points. If evaluated purely on its internal organization as a descriptive text, it demonstrates coherent flow.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing statistical data and charts. Terms such as 'accounted for', 'highest percentage', 'expenditure', and 'proportion' are used correctly. There are also accurate collocation attempts, such as 'clothing/footwear' and 'household goods'. Although the vocabulary is somewhat repetitive and lacks the advanced, less common lexical items expected at higher bands, it is sufficient to communicate the numerical data clearly without causing any confusion for the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response features a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as introductory subordinate clauses ('While food accounted for...') and coordinate clauses. Grammatical accuracy is generally high, with correct verb tenses used to describe past data ('accounted for', 'rose to') and accurate punctuation throughout. Sentences are largely error-free, reflecting a solid command of basic and moderately complex syntactic forms, though the structural variety remains somewhat limited due to the short length of the text.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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