Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-21
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people say History is one of the most important school subjects. Other people think that in today’s world subjects like Science and technology are more important than History.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant example form your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 4.5)
Education plays a fundamental role in shaping individuals and societies, and different approaches to learning subjects remain widely debated. While some people have believed that history is one of the crucial subjects to learn in school, others argue that in present times, science and technology are more important than history. In this essay, both perspectives will be discussed, and I will share my view in favour of the former proposition.
To commence with, history should be a minor subject to be taught in school, as it represents the culture and values of the past. To elaborate, studying history in school brings value and respect for the freedom fighters and how the world evolve in a time. It brings a sense of belonging and values their own culture and tradition in life.
On the other side, in the modern world , science plays a crucial part to evolve the world and brings an advancement of the technology.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, containing only 156 words. Because the text is significantly under-length, the ideas are severely under-developed. Although the student attempts to address the prompt by introducing the two opposing views and stating a personal preference in the introduction ("I will share my view in favour of the former proposition"), the body paragraphs remain fragmented. The second paragraph outlines why history is important, but contradicts itself slightly by calling it a 'minor subject', while the third paragraph cuts off abruptly after just one sentence about science and technology. Due to the incomplete nature of the response and failure to meet the length requirement, Task Achievement falls into Band 4.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The essay demonstrates some basic structural awareness through an introductory paragraph containing a thesis statement and transition markers such as 'To commence with' and 'On the other side'. However, the overall organization is heavily compromised by the extremely brief length. The body paragraphs lack proper progression and support; the second paragraph is underdeveloped, and the final paragraph contains only a single sentence before the essay stops. Paragraphing is attempted, but the extreme brevity means that logical cohesion cannot be sustained throughout. Cohesive devices are used mechanically rather than flexibly. Based on these limitations, the response aligns best with Band 4.0 for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate basic vocabulary with some attempts at slightly more advanced collocations, such as 'fundamental role', 'shaping individuals and societies', and 'cultural and tradition'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as writing 'how the world evolve in a time' instead of 'how the world has evolved over time' and stating that history should be a 'minor subject' when they likely meant to say a 'primary' or foundational subject. While communication of the core topic is not entirely blocked, the limited range and word choice errors restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as introductory subordinate clauses ('While some people have believed that...'). However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including tense and agreement issues like 'how the world evolve in a time' and awkward verb aspect choices such as 'have believed'. Punctuation errors also appear, such as the unnecessary space before the comma in 'modern world , science'. Despite these frequent errors, the core meaning remains partially intelligible, supporting a Band 5.0 rating for Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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