Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-13

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 a few countries, more and more people are becoming curious to know about the history of the house or building they reside in. Many people do this because they want to know who lived in this building previously, and whether there was any famous personality. Mostly, the residents check this out by looking at the past owners' history and whether there was any other thing here before the construction of their building.

Residents of a certain society are always interested in the history of their houses, and there are some obvious reasons for this. Firstly, they may think that there could be a celebrity who lived here, and they think that this will increase the value of their property. For instance, many Bollywood celebrities were living in a private society in the early 2000s, and then moved to the posh area of Mumbai; therefore, they sold their houses to locals, which subsequently increased the value of their property. Secondly, people research this so that they can tell their friends that their house is 20 or 30 years old just for showing off and feeling proud.

A lot of people research this by visiting a nearby land record office where they can check the history, and they can also see the previous owners of their house. In this modern era, governments have introduced digital land record apps as well, where we can see the data online. In Pakistan, for example, the Punjab Government has introduced a new digital method to check land records by visiting the Punjab Government's website. Many countries still have the old British-era land record system, which was written in notebooks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by explaining both the reasons behind people's interest in the history of their homes and how they can research it. In the body paragraphs, the student presents relevant ideas, such as the desire to find out if celebrities lived in the building to increase property value or for social bragging rights. The methods of research are also clearly outlined, mentioning local land record offices and digital government applications, supported by a specific example from Pakistan. While some ideas like the motivation to show off are slightly informal and could be extended further, the overall task is covered adequately, earning a solid band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, reasons, research methods, and conclusion logically. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'Firstly,' 'For instance,' and 'Secondly.' However, some cohesion is slightly mechanical, and referencing occasionally lacks precision, such as in the opening paragraph where pronouns like 'this' and 'their building' are chained somewhat loosely. Paragraph transitions could also be smoother to enhance the overall flow. Despite these minor issues, the logical progression is clear throughout, aligning well with the band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common phrasing such as 'posh area,' 'land record office,' and 'digital land record apps.' However, the range is somewhat limited, and there is reliance on simpler vocabulary and repetitive phrasing, such as 'history of the house or building.' Word choice is generally appropriate and communication is never impeded, but instances of collocation and style lack the precision and flexibility required for higher band levels, placing this response firmly at band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures successfully, such as in 'residents check this out by looking at the past owners' history and whether there was any other thing here.' There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly with article usage and slightly awkward phrasing like 'check this out' and 'other thing here,' but these errors rarely impede communication. The majority of the simpler structures are accurate, supporting a band 6.0 score for grammatical range and accuracy.

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