Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-29
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as an unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. Others argue that it is better to try and improve such situations.
Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Student answer (Band 4.5)
Some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation, such as unsatisfactory job or shortage of money. Others argue that it is better to try and improve such situations. I believe that both conditions depend on the situation of the people.
Admittedly, some people believe that it is best to accept a bad situation. There are many treasons for this acceptance. When a person is in bad condition and is unable to meet his daily expenses.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0
The response is severely under-length, containing only 79 words compared to the required 250 words. Because of this extreme brevity, the student is unable to adequately discuss both views or provide a fully developed personal opinion as instructed by the prompt. While the opening sentences attempt to introduce the topic and state a tentative position ('I believe that both conditions depend on the situation of the people'), the essay breaks off abruptly in the second paragraph after only a few fragmented thoughts. According to the task achievement descriptors, this falls well below the minimum threshold for a complete task response, resulting in a low band score.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5
Coherence is significantly hindered by the incomplete nature of the text. The writer attempts to structure the response by using standard introductory discourse markers such as 'Admittedly' and 'There are many treasons for this acceptance'. However, because the text stops abruptly mid-argument, overall progression cannot be established. Paragraphing is initiated with a standard introduction and a partial body paragraph, but the lack of a complete essay structure prevents any meaningful assessment of cohesive devices or logical flow beyond sentence-level attempts.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, reflecting a limited range suitable for the task. The student employs common phrases such as 'bad situation', 'unsatisfactory job', and 'shortage of money', which are largely lifted from the prompt. There is also a notable lexical error in the second paragraph ('treasons' instead of 'reasons'). Due to the very short length of the text, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate a flexible or wide lexical resource, keeping the score within the lower bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'When a person is in bad condition and is unable to meet his daily expenses,' but this particular sentence is actually a dependent clause fragment lacking an independent main clause. Other basic sentences are grammatically acceptable, but the overall structural variety is minimal and incomplete sentences restrict the ability to demonstrate sustained grammatical control.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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