Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-13

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)

In some nation, number of individual show there interest to find out about the history of their own living place. In this essay, first I will discuss reasons behind this, further, I will give some methods to overcome this.

First and foremost, many individual are happy to find out the history of their house or building where they live in due to there interest in discovering the history of . As they show curiosity to find out that who lived in their house before them, when it was built and what important events happened there. By this, they can feel more connected to their home and local community; Furthermore, cultural and family heritage plays vital role in behind this research. Many old houses may have historical or architectural importance. People may also discover that their ancestors live in the same area. Therefore, learning about a building's past can help preserve family and local history.

Some methods to find out information is

firstly, people can search online for old

maps, photographs, newspapers and government

records. Secondly, they can visit local library,

museums or historical societies, where old

documents and records may be available.

Moreover, people can talk to older residents

or previous owners of the house. They may

have valuable information about the

building's past that cannot be found online.

In conclusion, people are interested in the

history of their homes because of curiosity,

family heritage and cultural values. Online

records, libraries, museums and conversation

with older people are useful ways to discover

this history.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the interest in building history and the methods for researching it. The ideas are relevant and logically grouped. However, the development is somewhat superficial. For instance, while you mention 'curiosity' and 'family heritage,' these points could be expanded with more specific examples or deeper analysis to reach a higher band. The introduction is a bit repetitive, and the phrase 'methods to overcome this' is slightly inaccurate, as researching history is not a problem to be 'overcome.' Overall, the response covers the requirements but lacks the depth of development expected at higher levels.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the argument. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost,' 'Furthermore,' and 'In conclusion' to signal transitions. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some sentences feel disjointed. For example, the transition between the reasons and the methods is abrupt. Additionally, there are some minor issues with referencing, such as the incomplete sentence 'discovering the history of .' at the end of the first paragraph. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between ideas would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'architectural importance,' 'historical societies,' and 'government records.' However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of awkward phrasing or word choice, such as 'In some nation' (should be 'In some nations') and 'number of individual' (should be 'numbers of individuals'). To improve, try to incorporate more precise collocations and a wider range of academic vocabulary to express your points with greater sophistication and nuance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of the writing. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'ancestors live' instead of 'ancestors lived') and article usage (e.g., 'visit local library' instead of 'visit a local library'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure is sometimes repetitive. To reach a higher band, focus on reducing these recurring errors and increasing the variety of complex sentence forms, such as using more relative clauses or conditional structures to improve the flow and precision of your writing.

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

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