Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-24

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)

When the topic of historical buildings discussed, there are divided opinions. While some people claim that they should be rehabilitated at any cost, others argue that authorities should demolish such construction and construct contemporary sites. Before my inclination, both viewpoints should be discussed.

There are several reasons contribute to the belief of preserving old buildings. To begin with, traditional buildings are cultural heritage of a society. To elucidate, these traditional buildings were made to remind people about their cultural identity. It also suggest their cultural dance and outfits. For example, numerous ancients buildings in India contain idols wearing traditional outfits and performing certain style of dance steps. Therefore, it should be maintain as long as possible to educate future generation about their customs and traditions. Moreover, older buildings are unique in itself and cannot be created again. It is a fact that people had more expertise in constructions than nowdays. They had built marvelous infrastuctures that forces contemporary engineers to study their designs and methods of building such abnormal structures. For instance, the seven wonders of the world are all created centuries ago and still remained irreplacable by any modern buildings.

In spite of this, some people still argue that it should be knock down and build newer constructions. Firstly, they may have some safety concerns. Many outdated buildings are deteriorating with age as long exposure to unfavourable weather. This may have impacted their foundation when flood and earthquake occur. Such unexpected events causes injuries or even fatalities. Furthermore,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both views on historical building preservation versus modern replacement, and the student's introduction touches upon giving an opinion, although the essay cuts off mid-sentence in the second body paragraph. Crucially, the length requirement of 250 words is not met as the text contains 249 words. Consequently, the task response is incomplete, which restricts the overall development of ideas. While the arguments regarding cultural heritage and safety concerns are relevant, the abrupt ending prevents a full conclusion and fully articulated position. Therefore, based on the incomplete nature of the response and failure to reach the minimum word count, a band 5.0 is awarded.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a basic overall structure with clear paragraphing, beginning with an introduction that outlines the discussion. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'To begin with', 'Moreover', and 'In spite of this'. However, referencing and progression are occasionally faulty, as seen in the awkward transition 'Before my inclination, both viewpoints should be discussed.' Furthermore, the abrupt halt at the end of the text severely disrupts the flow and logical progression of the second counter-argument. Paragraphing is attempted appropriately, but cohesion breaks down due to incomplete thoughts. Overall, the organizational features are adequate in parts but marred by structural incompleteness, leading to a band score of 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for the topic, including words and phrases like 'rehabilitated', 'cultural heritage', 'deteriorating', and 'fatalities'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'When the topic of historical buildings discussed' (missing verb), 'ancients buildings', 'abnormal structures' (where 'impressive' or 'complex' was likely intended), and 'knock down'. Spelling and word formation errors also appear, such as 'infrastuctures' and 'nowdays'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate for discussing the topic, these recurring errors and imprecise collocations prevent the writer from achieving a higher band, justifying a score of 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional and relative clauses. However, there is a high frequency of grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'When the topic of historical buildings discussed' (passive voice error), 'several reasons contribute' instead of 'contributing', 'it should be maintain', 'older buildings are unique in itself', and 'causes injuries' (subject-verb agreement error with 'events'). Additionally, punctuation and preposition choices need refinement ('as long exposure' instead of 'due to long exposure'). Because these errors frequently cause difficulty and the sentence structures lack consistent accuracy, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.

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