Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-21

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are bad for the environment.

What damage does plastic do to the environment?

What can be done by governments and individuals to solve this problem?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 4.5)

In the contemporary world, with advances in urban development, many people are determined to learn the history of the house or building where they reside. The reason for this is to determine the building's purpose and safety. People can research this by contacting the previous owner or interviewing locals who have resided in the area for a long time.

With the rise in use of the internet, many people are curious about the history of their accommodation. The main purpose for which the building was constructed is essential to its history. Furthermore, the materials and building techniques used in the construction work are significant to the economic life of the building. To illustrate, people who are worried about their house being vulnerable to natural disasters will seek the building materials and techniques used in construction to mitigate the risk.

The research on this topic can be done by contacting the previous owner or builder. They can provide valuable information about the building materials, construction date, and so on. Furthermore, local people residing in the area for a long period of time can be interviewed for further information. These sources can provide data on the actual history of the building. For instance, even if an accident was not reported to the previous owner, the local people are supposed to have witnessed or at least heard about it.

To conclude, I would like to say that the reason that people are so interested in discovering the history of their house is to determine the primary purpose of the building and its safety as well. This can be researched by contacting the previous owner or builder and interviewing local people. Ultimately, I believe that understanding the history of one's accommodation is essential to ensure safety and should be done by all individuals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The prompt asks for an essay regarding the environmental damage caused by plastic and potential solutions from governments and individuals. Instead, the student has written an essay about researching the history of one's house or building. Because the response fails to address any part of the actual task question, it cannot be assessed on the development of relevant ideas. According to the IELTS criteria, a response that is entirely unrelated to the prompt must be penalised heavily in Task Achievement, as it does not address the requirements of the task at all.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

Despite the content being off-topic, the essay itself is structured logically. It uses clear paragraphing, with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'To illustrate', and 'To conclude' are used appropriately to link sentences and ideas. The progression of the argument is clear, even though the argument itself is irrelevant to the prompt. The internal logic of the text is sound, demonstrating a good grasp of how to structure an essay, which prevents a lower score in this specific criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally accurate and appropriate for the topic of building history. The student uses a range of relevant terms such as 'urban development', 'accommodation', 'vulnerable', 'mitigate', and 'construction techniques'. While the vocabulary is not highly sophisticated, it is sufficient to convey the intended meaning clearly. There are no significant spelling or word-choice errors that impede communication. The range is adequate for the task, though it does not demonstrate the flexibility or precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a good control of grammar. There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The reason for this is to determine the building's purpose and safety' and 'To illustrate, people who are worried about their house being vulnerable to natural disasters will seek the building materials...'. Punctuation is generally accurate, and errors are rare. The grammatical control is consistent throughout the text, suggesting a level of proficiency that would typically be associated with a higher band if the content were relevant.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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