Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-01

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)

It is becoming increasingly popular to investigate the history of home or to know more about the place where people lives. One of possible reason is to identify the previous owners and people can ask it from old neighbours of the town.

To begin with, houses or buildings could have historical background of an important era of the history. People want to associate the property with an important event of the history, so they increase the value of it and earn profit by selling them. For instance, a person lives near where World War Two took place and he will try to know about the famous personailties of that event, lived there during war. After identifiying, it is lablled it that personality and sell it on high value. Another reason is possibility of finding the treasure beneath the house. People try to find the connection of their building with acients time and think they might find the gold. They anazlye the historical books and related materials to find the history about it and sometime they hit on mark and get precious items beneath their homes. To illustrates my point, people who live near the places or nearby the kingdom which had important significance, more likely try such things because they think, valuable items can be found under the their ground.

In conclusion, finding the history and social backgound about the building is due to associate the building with an important character of the history or to find treasure and researching through books can help them to achieve this task.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for interest in building history and methods of research. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial and speculative. The argument regarding 'finding treasure' as a primary reason for researching home history is quite unconventional and lacks a strong logical foundation, which limits the depth of the response. While the prompt is addressed, the ideas are not fully extended or supported with convincing real-world evidence. The essay is quite short, barely meeting the minimum requirement, which restricts the ability to provide a more comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. There is a basic attempt at logical progression, moving from reasons to research methods. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'To begin with', 'To illustrate my point'). Some transitions between sentences are abrupt, and the connection between ideas within paragraphs could be smoother. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the flow of ideas regarding historical events and treasure hunting feels disjointed. Overall, the structure is functional but lacks sophisticated linking.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'hit on mark' instead of 'hit the mark', 'acients time' instead of 'ancient times', and 'lablled it that personality'. These errors occasionally impede the flow of the text. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'historical background' and 'significance', the overall lexical control is limited, and the repetition of basic words restricts the ability to convey more complex meanings effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('where people lives'), article usage, and tense consistency. For example, 'a person lives near where World War Two took place and he will try to know' is grammatically clunky. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several missing commas and incorrect word forms ('personailties', 'identifiying'). While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the response from reaching a higher band score.

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

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