Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-30

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)

Coming to such discussions it is definetly depend on individual though process. I'm an lover of old constructions and their architecture. So I personally think that these old buildings like mentioned town halls and art galleries or the old museums, old libraries, colleges, universities should be just left with their old architecture and constructions. Although some basic timely renovations is neccessary for these building just to maintain their heritage. And coming to restoration part for these builds, I think yes it needs to be done to maintain their grace and charm even if they are costly. Because as i mentioned my opinion above, one should not take their original architecture. It would make sense if the construction was not old, if it was constructed just back around in recent times and they are getting rotten or walls chipped, then we just need basic patchup works to be done. Coming to the other part of the discussion or arguement about that the governments should replace them with new and modern building, this part needs to be discussed with all the committee and the responsible persons for those buildings. Making it modern is not a bad idea but that will just lose its charm if it has ancient architecture. Other than that there is no issue in converting these olf buildings into the new and modern buildings, because ofcourse these new constructions would have much more facilities, amenities and also in terms of security when its compared to old buildings. I can give and example from my expirience. I hail from a city ruled by Nizams called Hyderabad and my city has the best and many old architectures including the art galleries, hospitals, universities, secretariat etc. The secretariat was the old structure build by nizams and was well preserved, but due to negligence of recent government it has gotten to a state that it required to build a complete new building and abandoned the old one. this is one of the example I can think of as a personal expirience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both views regarding the restoration versus replacement of old buildings and provides a clear personal opinion. The writer discusses the charm and historical value of old architecture, as well as the practical advantages of modern buildings such as enhanced facilities and security. However, the development of ideas tends to be repetitive and somewhat conversational, rather than fully extended with robust argumentation. For instance, the discussion around the Hyderabad secretariat uses a relevant personal example, but it remains a narrative rather than a tightly integrated analytical point. The position is clear throughout, but the depth of task fulfilment aligns best with a Band 6, where relevant ideas are presented but some are under-developed or lack formal academic depth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay lacks proper paragraphing, presented instead as a single large block of text, which significantly hinders the logical flow and visual organisation of the ideas. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often conversational or repetitive, such as starting multiple sentences with phrases like 'Coming to' or 'Other than that'. While there is an overall progression from discussing restoration to considering replacement, and finally offering an example, the lack of paragraph divisions means cohesion is sometimes faulty and mechanical. This structural limitation prevents the response from achieving a higher band, placing it firmly at a Band 5 due to the absence of clear paragraphing and somewhat repetitive cohesive ties.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate their ideas about architecture, heritage, and modern amenities. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'renovations', 'heritage', and 'negligence', but there are also noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'definetly' instead of definitely, 'though process' instead of thought process, 'arguement', and 'expirience'. Furthermore, phrasing can be colloquial and imprecise, such as 'basic patchup works'. Because the errors in spelling and collocation are noticeable but do not impede overall communication, this performance meets the criteria for Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating conditional and relative clauses. However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'it is definetly depend', 'some basic timely renovations is neccessary', and punctuation issues like missing capitalisation and run-on sentences. Complex structures are often faulty, and errors frequently occur with subject-verb agreement and preposition use. While the meaning is generally recoverable and communication is not severely impeded, the high frequency of errors across the text prevents it from reaching a Band 6, resulting in a Band 5 score.

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