Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-11

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people are now living longer than ever before. Some people say an aging population creates problems for governments. Other people think there are benefits if society has more elderly people.

To what extent do the advantages of having an aging population outweigh the disadvantages?

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The given line chart illustrates information in 2014, about the average changes in the charges in comparison with the previous month of three different metallic elements.

Overall, сopper was the metal with the most stable pattern compared with others. while nickel experienced significant changes over the months.

In January, copper saw a 2% price change, compared with 6% for nickel. By contrast, zinc had the smallest change, at just over 1%. By the end of the month, copper had declined to about 1%, while nickel had fallen dramatically to just over 4% and zinc to 2%. In March, copper had decreased to over 0.5%, while nickel had more than halved to about 1% and zinc had dropped to 2%. In April, copper and nickel did not face any changes, while zinc had decreased to just over 1.5%. After that, all three metals fell steadily, copper to just below -0.5%, nickel to over 0.5%, and zinc to 1.5%. In June, nickel and zinc had fallen significantly to over -3% and -1% respectively, while copper remained unchanged.

In July, the three metals rose, with nickel increasing sharply to -1%, copper to 1%, and zinc to about -0.5%. By contrast, all three metals did not face any changes until September. In October, nickel fell sharply to just about -2%, zinc to -1%, and copper to over 0.5%. By the end of the month, nickel and zinc increased dramatically to over 1% and 1.5% respectively, while copper remained unchanged. In December, nickel did not face any changes, while zinc grown to 2%, and copper to about 1.3%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 1.0

The response is completely off-topic. The prompt asks for an essay regarding the social and economic implications of an aging population, but the student has written a report describing a line chart about metallic element price changes. Consequently, the response fails to address any part of the task instructions. According to the IELTS criteria, a response that is completely unrelated to the task prompt must be awarded a band score of 1.0 for Task Achievement, as it does not address the requirements of the essay question at all.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

While the response is internally coherent as a report on a graph, it fails to address the essay prompt. The paragraphing is logical for a data description task, and there is a clear attempt at progression using cohesive devices like 'In January', 'By contrast', and 'After that'. However, because the content is entirely irrelevant to the essay task, the coherence and cohesion are evaluated based on the language produced. The structure is mechanical but functional for a report, though it lacks the argumentative structure required for an essay.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is appropriate for describing trends and data (e.g., 'declined', 'fallen dramatically', 'remained unchanged', 'increasing sharply'). The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe fluctuations in data. However, because the essay prompt was ignored, the vocabulary is not relevant to the topic of an aging population. The lexical resource is adequate for a report-style task, showing some precision in describing numerical changes, but it does not demonstrate the range required for an argumentative essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'In January, copper saw a 2% price change, compared with 6% for nickel.' There are some grammatical errors, such as 'zinc grown to 2%' (should be 'grew') and 'all three metals did not face any changes' (which is slightly unnatural phrasing). Despite these errors, the meaning is generally clear. The control of grammar is sufficient for a basic report, but the lack of relevance to the actual essay task makes it impossible to assess the student's ability to construct an argumentative essay.

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

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