Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-25
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)
Some people think that modern technology has brought family members closer together. Others believe that it has driven them further apart.Discuss both views and give your opinion.
People's opinion differ as to whether the gap between the family members has been decreased by the technology or increased by it. Although I will discuss both perspectives, I personally agree with the latter viewpoint.
Those who ague that technology brings family together have their reasons. Firstly, it has made the whole world as a small village. It is very easy for people to communicate with their loved ones while sitting at any corner of the world. However, in the past, it was quite impossible to make a contact with family members who worked far from their homes such as solders. Moreover, aviation technology has decreased the gap drastically. In other words, people can travel thousand kilometer in a day, which was not possible in the past. Therefore, people do not feel alone while living far from them.
However, despite the aforementioned arguments, I side with those who feel that advancement in technology has increased the gap between parents and children. Today, adult are buy in their mobile phones; therefore, instead of meeting them personally, they usually prefer to use texting or calling. As a result of this, parents feel bored because they do not have anyone to share their feelings as old people are shy to share things on mobile phones. Moreover, inflation is very high and individuals need to travel and live far from home for longer period of time, and they do not visit their parents often. Since most of jobs are on IT based; thereby, they have to live in metropolitian cities.
In conclusion, while technology helps people to communicate from distance, my own view is that it weaken the bond between parents and children because physical availability is matter most in case of strong bonding with relatives.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 1.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0
The response is completely off-topic. The prompt provided instructions to discuss the environmental impact of plastic and how to solve the problem, but the essay discusses the impact of technology on family relationships. As the response fails to address the task requirements entirely, it cannot be assessed for task achievement in relation to the prompt. In an official examination, this would be treated as a memorised response or a failure to follow instructions, resulting in a very low score for this criterion.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is logically organised into clear paragraphs with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'However', 'Moreover', and 'In conclusion' are used to link ideas. While the content is irrelevant to the prompt, the internal structure of the argument is coherent and easy to follow. The progression of ideas is logical, and paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two opposing viewpoints.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary range is adequate for the task, though somewhat repetitive. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'solders' instead of 'soldiers', 'buy' instead of 'busy', and 'metropolitian' instead of 'metropolitan'. Despite these errors, the meaning is generally clear. The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary related to technology and social interaction, but the lack of relevance to the actual prompt limits the ability to demonstrate a wider range of vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'People's opinion differ' (should be 'opinions'), 'make a contact' (should be 'contact'), and 'physical availability is matter most' (should be 'matters most'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but there are issues with subject-verb agreement and word forms. These errors do not significantly impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher band score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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