Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-22

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people believe that old buildings, such as town halls and art galleries, should be restored, even though this can be costly. Others argue that governments should replace them with new, modern buildings.

Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

It is believed by many that modifications are necessary to maintain the architecture of the classic buildings. I support the notion that taking care of things with modern developments is helpful rather than leaving it. To ellaborated both he views are discussed in the following paragraph.

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On one side many individuals think that rebuilding the old galleries might take a lot of time and money . This is because of the age of modernisation; people these days get bored easily and do not want to know much about history.Also, they feel that spending on a sausage or a PS5 is better than spending on viewing a building from the past. Thus, this results in getting less business and increased operating costs which makes it harder for the government to even operate it.

On the contrary, if new buildings are made instead of old ones, then the new engineering might attract more viewers. Furthermore, this will increase traffic of tourists in particular area and will boost the business of nearby areas. For instance, if Scotiabank arena goes into the redevelopment stage and came up with brand new design then more artists will rent it out for their shows because of new design . Thirdly, more fans would be interested in watching a concert there as its more new .

I personally believe the revelopmenst should be mandatory every 15 years as this help in taking care of building/s foundation and lets us to take care of that area's history.

To conclude, redoing is better than leaving it untouched as this helps in tracking out the unwanted and pre-disclosed problems in early stage of life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the view that old buildings should be restored and the alternative argument for constructing new, modern buildings, while also providing a personal opinion. The position is stated in the introduction and reiterated in the body and conclusion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and occasionally shifts off-course, such as bringing up irrelevant comparisons regarding video games or specific modern examples like the Scotiabank Arena in a somewhat confusing manner. While the core prompt is answered, the ideas lack the depth and extension required for a higher band. Overall, the performance aligns with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, though some structural formatting issues exist, such as the stray quotation mark at the beginning of the second paragraph. Ideas are generally ordered logically, moving from the introduction to the opposing views, the student's stance, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On one side', 'On the contrary', and 'To conclude', but referencing is sometimes awkward, and transitions can feel mechanical. Paragraphing is present and mostly serves the progression of ideas, though some sentences feel disconnected from the main flow, placing this text firmly at Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'age of modernisation', 'operating costs', and 'redevelopment stage'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, including spelling mistakes like 'ellaborated' and 'revelopmenst', alongside awkward phrasing like 'spending on a sausage' and 'its more new'. These lexical errors and awkward expressions occasionally detract from the reading experience, though they do not completely impede communication, resulting in a Band 5.5 score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over clause subordination through structures like 'even though this can be costly' (from the prompt) and student-generated complex sentences such as 'if new buildings are made instead of old ones, then the new engineering might attract more viewers.' However, frequent grammatical errors are present, including subject-verb agreement issues ('this help in taking care', 'come up with brand new design'), tense shifts ('came up'), and missing articles. These errors require some effort to decode at times, fitting the Band 5 descriptors well.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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