Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-04

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 nations, an increasingly number of individuals are becoming fascinated in knowing the past history of the house or building they currently live in. In my view, intimidation of knowing what existed on the place where they live in is the main reason behind this. Reading local history books or asking elderly people questions can be a way of finding out the past.

The primary reason why more people are taking an interest in digging out the past of their house is the suspense, whether their home was built on a Rome civilization or Mayan civilization or something significant, they then invest their time and resources into finding out.

Another thing is when people listen to other peoples talking about their place history and watching videos of house history on social media this creates a passion in them to search and find what existed here in ancient times.

Finding and reading local history books of your area is the best way to find out about the past. Local history books store information about the past on how the place was developed, what laid the foundations of this area and how this place evolved from time to time. Individuals can easily find these type of books, journals in their local town library. Furthermore, asking questions about your place from the senior citizens can be found beneficial sometimes if they remember something they can share with you.

To conclude, trying to learn about the past of the building or house you stay in is getting more attention day by day, the main reason behind this being the thrill of knowing the history and scrutiny of local history can be a major way of finding out.

0.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons for the interest in house history and methods for researching it. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For example, the explanation regarding 'suspense' and 'Rome or Mayan civilization' is quite speculative and lacks logical depth. The ideas are presented but not fully extended with convincing evidence or detailed reasoning. While the response covers all parts of the task, the lack of depth in the arguments keeps it at a mid-level band. To improve, you should provide more concrete, realistic examples of why people value historical context and how they conduct their research.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central topic. There is a logical progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive. Phrases like 'Another thing is' and 'Furthermore' are used, but the transitions between sentences could be smoother to improve the flow. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as the phrase 'the thrill of knowing the history and scrutiny of local history' in the conclusion, which does not perfectly summarize the points made in the body paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. There are some awkward collocations, such as 'an increasingly number' (should be 'an increasing number') and 'digging out the past' (which is slightly informal). The range of vocabulary is limited, often repeating words like 'history', 'past', and 'find'. To achieve a higher score, you should aim to use more sophisticated synonyms and collocations, such as 'historical significance', 'archival research', or 'genealogical investigation', to demonstrate a wider lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'fascinated in knowing' (should be 'fascinated by'), 'intimidation of knowing' (which is an incorrect word choice for 'curiosity'), and 'what laid the foundations of this area'. There are also issues with article usage and pluralization, such as 'on a Rome civilization'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct prepositional usage would be beneficial.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.