Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people believe that international sports events, such as The Olympics or the Football World Cup, are a good way to bring countries together. Others say that these events create competition, not friendship, between countries.
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)
It is often argued that games played at international levels such as The Olympics or Football World Cup binds the countries together. whereas, some believe it develops the sense of competition among the countries.This essay will discuss both perspectives before presenting my own opinion.
On the one hand, proponents of the sports to be played among countries argue that playing with different countries offers the benefits of meeting different people in opponent's country and a chance to build strong bonds with the opponents.For example, The players of team
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 3.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 4.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0
The response sits at a low band because it is severely under-length, containing only 88 words compared to the minimum requirement of 250 words. Consequently, the task is addressed only partially, as the discussion is abruptly cut off in the second paragraph and the student's own opinion is entirely missing. While the introduction attempts to outline both views, the lack of a complete essay structure prevents any meaningful development of ideas. To achieve a higher score, the writer must fully address all parts of the prompt, including a clear position and fully supported arguments for both perspectives, while meeting the minimum word count.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5
The text shows some basic organizational structure with an introductory paragraph that attempts to outline the essay's direction, using standard transition phrases like 'On the one hand'. However, the overall progression breaks down quickly because the response stops mid-sentence in the second paragraph, meaning logical sequencing across a full essay cannot be established. Paragraphing is initiated properly, but the lack of a body conclusion and final opinion restricts the flow and coherence. To improve, the writer needs to ensure that ideas are sustained logically through a complete essay structure with appropriate and accurate cohesive devices throughout all paragraphs.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, featuring recognizable terms such as 'international levels', 'perspective', and 'proponents'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'games played at international levels... binds the countries together' where subject-verb agreement and word choice clash, and 'proponents of the sports to be played'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they reflect a limited and basic lexical range. To move to a higher band, the student should incorporate a wider variety of less common lexical items with greater precision and natural collocation.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and emerging complex sentence forms, such as the introductory complex structure 'It is often argued that...'. However, there are noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation, including a major sentence boundary error with a stray period and lowercase continuation in 'countries. whereas, some believe...', as well as missing articles like 'in opponent's country'. While these errors do not entirely obscure the intended meaning, they occur frequently relative to the short length of the text. To achieve a higher score, the writer must demonstrate better control over complex sentence patterns, punctuation, and articles.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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