Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-29

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 several countries, many individuals are taking much more interest in exploring about the history of the house or buidling they currently live in. History is indeed a very crucial part of our lives and we should know more about our ancestors and previous generations. Reasons and solutions are given below.

To begin with, people have curiosity to know about their past and about the past of house or building they live in. History fascinates them. For example, my friend loves history and he is always eager to learn more and more about it. Recently, he had bought a building in the middle of a desserted city. So, he really wanted to know each and every detail about that house. Hence, some people naturally have that curiosity in them.

Additionally, some people wanted to know about their residencial history beacuse they are considering their safety. Because by doing research about your place you can know about the materials used to made it in the past. That is the reason why some people wanted to know about their house history.

Considerably, people can search this historical data from the government record or by any old elderly neighbour who had lived nearby that house for ages. Another efficient idea is to search it out on internet. In this modern world everything is just a click away. We can easily get required information on internet by searching about that specific house or town.

To sum up, there are various methods to find out about the history of a particular space and some people have curiosity and some research about it in order to prevent any future disaster.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the reasons why people research building history (curiosity and safety/materials) and methods for doing so (government records, elderly neighbors, and the internet). However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on safety states: 'Because by doing research about your place you can know about the materials used to made it in the past,' which is a slightly superficial exploration of the point. Furthermore, the introduction misinterprets the prompt slightly by mentioning ancestors and previous generations rather than focusing strictly on the building itself. Despite these underdeveloped areas, the response covers the core requirements of the task adequately. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors, where all parts of the task are addressed, but some ideas remain under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure paragraphs logically. Introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion are present. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'Additionally', 'Considerably', and 'To sum up', which help guide the reader through the text. However, some referencing and logical transitions are slightly mechanical or awkward, such as 'Considerably, people can search this historical data...' where 'considerably' is an inappropriate transition word for introducing examples of research methods. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, though some paragraphs are quite brief. Overall, the organizational structure is functional and allows the reader to follow the main points easily, fitting the criteria for Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'fascination', 'desserted' (spelling error for 'deserted'), 'residencial' (spelling error for 'residential'), and 'efficient idea'. However, noticeable spelling and word choice errors occur throughout the text, including 'buidling', 'desserted', and 'residencial'. Additionally, collocations are occasionally awkward, such as 'he had bought a building' instead of 'purchased', or 'search this historical data'. While these lexical shortcomings and errors are noticeable, they do not impede communication, placing the response solidly at Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the response. Examples of errors include subject-verb agreement or tense inconsistencies like 'some people wanted to know', missing auxiliary verbs or incorrect passive forms like 'materials used to made it', and article usage issues. For instance, 'by any old elderly neighbour' contains redundant adjectives and an awkward prepositional phrase. Although these errors occur across sentences, the meaning remains comprehensible, and communication is rarely impeded. This balance of mixed structures and persistent errors reflects the Band 6 descriptor level.

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