Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-05

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)

Finding out about the history of the house or buliding in which people are residing is becoming popular among residents of some countries. This essay will discuss the reasons for this increasing trend and tell how can people search about it.

One main reason why people are showing interest in the history of the house or building they are living in is to check the maintainance level of their home or building. Houses and buildings could be damaged from different environmental conditions and require proper maintainance. Another significant reason is that home owners are concerned about the value of their properties. They prefer to spend little amounts on routine inspections and fixing little issues, instead of spending significant amounts on major repairs. For instance, a well maintained property will definately has a much higher value than a poorly maintained property.

People can search about the history of their builings and homes by availing certain home evaluation services from different companies with good reputation. These well reputed companies can provide you exact inspection report about the condition of your home and save you a significant amount of time. People can also get their homes or buildngs inspected from experienced individuals but hiring a reputed company for this task is preferable. For example, you can hold any reputed company accountable for a faulty inspection report.

In conclusion, people are becoming interested in finding out about the history of a home or building they are living in because they are concerned about the maintanance level and value of their properties. Furthermore, they can check history of their homes by hiring a reputable construction company.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response is limited by the fact that the length requirement is NOT met, as the text contains only 243 words and falls short of the 250-word minimum (28 words copied from the prompt were not counted). While the writer attempts to address both parts of the prompt regarding the reasons for researching a building's history and how to do so, the interpretation of the task is slightly flawed. The essay mistakes researching historical background for structural home inspections and physical evaluations, focusing entirely on maintenance and property values rather than historical archives, past inhabitants, or architectural heritage. Consequently, ideas remain limited and under-developed, keeping the response at a lower band level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response presents some general organisation with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion adequately. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression due to the misinterpretation of the core topic, which causes the arguments to circle back to physical building maintenance instead of historical research methods. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the overuse of phrases like 'Another significant reason' and 'For example'. Referencing is generally functional, but the connection between sentences can feel disjointed at times, resulting in a cohesive flow that aligns with a mid-level band descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary suitable for discussing property and general issues. There are several noticeable lexical errors, particularly in spelling, such as 'buliding' instead of building and 'maintainance' instead of maintenance. Word choice is also occasionally imprecise or strained for the context, such as using 'history of the house' to refer strictly to structural wear and tear. Although communication is not severely blocked, these recurring vocabulary and spelling inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer displays a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple or straightforward complex forms. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as awkward phrasing in indirect questions ('tell how can people search about it'), missing or incorrect articles, and issues with verb forms and agreement, such as 'definately has a much higher value'. These errors occur regularly across the text and can cause occasional difficulty for the reader, fitting the profile of frequent errors that impact grammatical control.

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