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 Porsche 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.

In conclusion, people are becoming more interested in looking at the previous ownership or was there any popular celebrity lived here. The government has made it easy to access their land records by visiting their platforms.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the reasons why people research the history of their buildings, and how they can conduct this research. The candidate introduces valid points regarding celebrity association, property value enhancement, and showing off. Furthermore, the response explores research methods effectively by citing traditional land record offices and digital government applications, such as the Punjab Government's portal. While some ideas like showing off could be explored with more depth, the content covers all requirements of the prompt appropriately. The position is clear throughout, and the examples provided, such as the Bollywood reference and the Pakistani land system, successfully illustrate the arguments presented. Therefore, this performance fits the Band 6.5 to 7.0 criteria well, earning a solid Band 6.5 for addressing all aspects of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, reasons, research methods, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Firstly,' 'Secondly,' and 'In conclusion,' though some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, as seen in the frequent use of 'they think that' or 'so that they can.' Paragraphing is logical, grouping the reasons in the second paragraph and the research methods in the third paragraph. While the progression is generally clear, occasional awkward phrasing in transitions slightly impedes smooth flow. This aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors, as the text is coherent overall despite some mechanical cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task. Less common lexical items are attempted, such as 'curious,' 'celebrity,' 'subsequently increased,' and 'digital land record apps.' However, there are some noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For instance, the phrase 'Porsche area of Mumbai' is an incorrect collocation, likely intending to mean 'prime' or ' posh area.' Additionally, 'past owners history' lacks appropriate possessive marking. Spelling and word choice errors do not impede overall communication, but they prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher band level. This performance fits the Band 6 profile, as the vocabulary is adequate and attempts less common items with some inaccuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures. There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text. For example, the sentence 'or was there any popular celebrity lived here' contains a tense and structural error, and 'Many Bollywood celebrities were living... and then moved... therefore, they sold' exhibits slightly awkward clause linkage. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are present, they rarely impede communication. The majority of sentences contain minor slips or awkward phrasing rather than severe structural breakdowns. This performance aligns comfortably with the Band 6 descriptors for grammatical range and accuracy.

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