Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-21
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 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?
Nowadays, in some countries, a substantial number of individuals is showing a keen interest in knowing the history of their residential places. There are several reasons for this and people can use various means to research about it.
Many people do not build their own houses. They shift from one place to another along with their family according to their jobs or business needs. Additionally, in many cases people who migrate from rural to urban areas take home on rent and live there. The place is new for them so they want to have all sort of information about that place. There are several reasons such as, some buildings are built with raw materials. When any natural disaster happens it deteriorates the buildings , and in turn poses great threat to the life of residents . Secondly, some buildings are built illegally and when higher authorities come to know they demolish those buildings. Hence, to be safe from any sort of future loss, people find out the history of place. Thirdly, a home is the place a person loves the most. Hence, people want to know everything about the place they are staying in.
To know about the history of the house or building, people use various means. They take information from the prior residents or their neighbors. The young children can ask from their grandparents about the place they are living in. In addition to this, if someone is buying a home they can investigate from property dealers or the house owners.
To sum up, people find out about the history of their residencies to be aware of any fraud or any future losses. People adopt many ways for knowing about this.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, exploring reasons why people research their home's history—such as safety concerns regarding natural disasters or illegal construction, and personal curiosity—as well as methods of research, including talking to neighbors, grandparents, or property dealers. However, some of the ideas are slightly unusual or under-developed, particularly the argument about illegal construction and natural disasters leading people to research historical records. The position is generally clear, though the supporting points could be more logically connected to the core theme. The word count minimum is fully met, and all prompt questions receive adequate attention, placing this response at a solid Band 6.0 level.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs. Paragraphing is used, though the second body paragraph is quite dense and covers multiple distinct ideas. Cohesive devices are used, but some transitions feel mechanical or repetitive, such as starting multiple sentences with 'Secondly,' 'Thirdly,' or 'Hence.' Referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band score. Overall, the organizational structure is easy to follow, supporting a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'substantial number of individuals,' 'residential places,' and 'investigate.' There are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'take home on rent' instead of 'rent a home,' and 'ask from their grandparents' instead of 'ask their grandparents.' Spelling is generally accurate, and while there are minor lexical inaccuracies, they do not impede communication. The vocabulary suffices for a Band 6.0 score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'When any natural disaster happens it deteriorates the buildings, and in turn poses great threat to the life of residents.' There are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues present throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement slips like 'a substantial number of individuals is' (instead of are), missing articles before nouns ('pose great threat'), and unnecessary spaces before punctuation marks. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded, fitting the Band 6.0 descriptor well.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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