Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-08

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)

It is widely argued around the world that many people are interested to know about the history their houses and buildings, where they live in. It is generally more common in countryside residents and people of large cities, who live in old buildings because their old homes design enhance their curiosity and history of these buildings can be find out by many ways, such as taking the previous record and can research this through their soil conditions.

Firstly, it purely a natural phenomenon to get curious about their homes and it is widely common among the residents of in homes in large cities. For example, In Pakistan, there are a lot of homes which are currently functional but built in previous centuries, such as old Lahore buildings. Hence, these kind of buildings are major reason of curiosity.

There are many ways for individuals to get knowledge about about their residency. One of the most common source is to explore the previous records of these buildings, which can be easily accessible through different offices. They can get the answers of their questions such as when they built, why they built them and who was the first owner of that building. There is a common pattern among all these old buildings in specific cities.

Furthermore, they can research about their buildings by using the carbon dating mechanism and specifically can get information about the age of their homes and buildings. In this technique, professional researchers use any raw brick or soil to know about the age and previous record of that homes.

In a nutshell, I would argue that it is totally natural for people to get curious about the history of buildings, where they live and previous record and other techniques such as carbon dating assist them to get full information.

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 for research. However, the development is somewhat limited. While you mention curiosity and historical architecture, the ideas remain superficial. For instance, the suggestion of 'soil conditions' to research building history is scientifically inaccurate and confusing in this context. The explanation of carbon dating is also misapplied, as this method is used for organic materials, not bricks or general building records. To improve, ensure your supporting examples are logical and factually sound. The position is clear, but the depth of analysis needs to be increased to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', and 'In a nutshell' to signal transitions. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where referencing is unclear, such as in the opening paragraph where the sentence structure is fragmented. The progression of ideas is present, but the logical links between the reasons for curiosity and the research methods could be smoother. Improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring they are used naturally would enhance the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'phenomenon', 'functional', and 'mechanism'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'history of these buildings can be find out' (should be 'found out') and 'previous record' (should be 'records'). Some phrasing is repetitive, and the attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary is occasionally hindered by inaccuracies. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and ensuring that the words you choose are appropriate for the specific context of historical research.

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 impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('these kind of buildings are'), missing articles ('in countryside residents'), and incorrect verb forms ('when they built' instead of 'when they were built'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence construction is often clunky. To reach a higher band, you need to increase the frequency of error-free sentences and pay closer attention to passive voice constructions and article usage, which are essential for discussing historical topics.

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

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