Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-22
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)
Nowadays, people have become curious about finding out the past information of their houses or buildings they reside in. This essay will discuss the reasons for this curiousity and the ways, by which, people can find out the history of their residence.
To begin with, there are primarily two reasons, the first cause is that people want to estimate the age of their home construction, so that they can prepare either for its necessary repair work or for its demolition as per the local building by laws of their nation. This information is crucial because people, being aware about the health condition of their apartment, can help them to plan their future with respect to their residence as well as complying with the local building bylaws. For instance, in Indian building bylaws, the maximum age for a contructed building is around 80 years, after that, the building has either to be repaired completely or be demolished for the fresh construction.
Subsequently, the second reason is that people want to know about how many familes have lived in their house before they moved in it. Knowing how many families have resided in their house, people get a feeling of treating their house with outmost care as the home has been carrying a lot of memories of previous owners who have spent their life in it.
Moving on to the second question, there are several ways for people to research about their home history. First, people can find the revelant information on the government housing site in which history of their property will be shared. Secondly, people can ask from their neighbours who are living in the same vicinity for a very long time.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the reasons why people research their building's history and the methods they can use to do so. The introduction clearly sets out the purpose of the essay, and two distinct reasons are provided in the body paragraphs: structural safety/compliance with building bylaws, and emotional connection/nostalgia regarding previous occupants. The second body paragraph about previous families is somewhat brief, but ideas are extended with a clear example regarding Indian building bylaws. The conclusion to the methods section is also a bit concise, mentioning government housing sites and neighbours. Overall, the response meets the core requirements of Task Achievement and covers all prompts well, though further development of the research methods would elevate the score further.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is generally coherent with a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is utilised appropriately to separate the introduction, individual reasons, and the methods of research. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, such as 'To begin with', 'Subsequently', and 'Moving on to the second question'. However, some cohesive transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as 'people want to know' and 'people can find'. Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional awkward phrasing affects the flow of complex sentences. Overall, the structure is logical and easy to follow, fitting well within the Band 6.0 to 6.5 descriptor range.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range suitable for this task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'demolition', 'bylaws', 'vicinity', and 'nostalgia'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling inaccuracies throughout the text. For example, 'curiousity' is misspelled, 'past information' is unnatural, 'familes' is a typo, and 'with outmost care' should be 'utmost care'. Furthermore, phrases like 'health condition of their apartment' are slightly unnatural collocations. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey meaning, but errors in spelling and collocation prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'the history of the house or building they live in'). However, grammatical errors are frequent. There are issues with prepositional use and awkward relative constructions, such as 'the ways, by which, people can find out' and 'moved in it' instead of 'moved into it'. Additionally, minor punctuation errors and run-on tendencies appear in longer sentences, such as 'This information is crucial because people, being aware about the health condition of their apartment, can help them...'. While communication is rarely impeded, the frequency of grammatical slips places this firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range.
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.