Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some countries, more and more people are becoming interested in finding out about the history of the house or building they live in.

What are the reasons for this?

How can people research this?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

People in general has always been interested in investigating the places, they are living or are planning to live. One of the many reasons, is that back then when the cities were being built and most people built their own houses with their hands, so for them there were no reasons for people to look for the history of house they just built. But now a days, people live in houses which are already built. Some houses were built decades before they buy it, and many buildings, in someways, are connected to history or specific historical events which people want to relate to. Many people also wonder about the possesion history of the building they are going to live in, mainly due regal reasons. And also, sometimes they are simply interested whether someone famous in history, lived in that building. For example, there are many buildings, even whole cities, in India which reflect the old Indian lifestyle in their architecture and locals are living in there regularly.

However, in my opinion, the interest in finding out the history of building poeple live in mainly comes from the hunting and gathering societies, where people would travel across the regions to find food and better living conditions, where they would find some abandoned houses or buildings built by someone they don't even know. So, for the reason of safety they would wonder and look for the builder of the house. Because at that time people would always return back to the houses they built by themselves, and living in those buildings without inquiry simply meant inviting danger.

Keeping that reason in mind, I believe people become interested in finding out the history of the building they live in, even though the security risk factor is close to zero.

lastly, the best sources to find out the history of the buildings is goverment records, land records, and asking locals who are in their old ages. Apart from that, many online history resources can also be used to look for building history.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both questions: it gives several possible reasons for interest, including a building’s historical associations, previous ownership, and the possibility that a famous person lived there, then names government and land records, local residents, and online resources as ways to investigate. These are relevant ideas, but some are unclear or insufficiently supported. In particular, the explanation about hunting-and-gathering societies and abandoned houses is speculative and takes up substantial space without clearly explaining the present-day trend. The India example is also broad and does not show specifically how a building’s history prompts residents’ interest. Develop the most convincing contemporary reasons and explain more directly how each research source can help answer the question.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some paragraphing, and the response moves from reasons to research methods, so the reader can identify its main sections. However, the overall progression is not consistently clear: the discussion shifts from modern property ownership to ancient societies, then returns to present-day interest. The paragraph beginning “However, in my opinion” introduces a new historical theory rather than clearly contrasting or extending the preceding points. Linking phrases such as “And also,” “Keeping that reason in mind,” and “lastly” are repetitive or do not make the relationship between ideas clear. Group the contemporary reasons together, follow them with a focused paragraph on research methods, and use references and transitions that show how each point connects to the task.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate its main ideas, including “historical events,” “possession history,” “government records,” and “land records.” It also attempts more specific expressions such as “security risk factor,” though this is not a natural fit for the point being made. Noticeable spelling and word-choice problems reduce precision, for example “possesion,” “poeple,” “regal reasons,” and “in someways.” Some phrases are awkward or imprecise, including “the hunting and gathering societies” and “locals are living in there regularly.” Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling carefully; more natural terms such as “legal reasons,” “previous owners,” and “historical records” would make the discussion clearer and more appropriate to an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning “when,” “where,” and “even though,” and the main message is generally understandable. However, errors occur across sentence structures and sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. For example, “People in general has always been” has subject–verb disagreement, while “the best sources … is” has disagreement between a plural subject and verb. The opening sentence also has an unnecessary comma in “the places, they are living,” and the long sentence beginning “One of the many reasons” is not grammatically complete as written. Review agreement, sentence boundaries, and punctuation, and divide long sentences when their structure becomes difficult to control.

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