Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Access to clean water is a basic human right. Therefore every home should have a water supply that is provided free of charge.

Do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Water is essential for our daily life. It is often argued that clean water should be supplied free of cost to every home, as it is a basic human right. I partly agree with this statement, as a free water supply will cause wastage of water.

One of the main reasons is that if water is free, people will not value it. As water is required for daily consumption, such as cooking, washing, and other things like that. If the government makes it free for everyone, then people will waste it, like in their swimming pools and gardening. People will not use it in the standard way, as they have unlimited access to water. Moreover, the financial burden on the government will increase also, as they clean water, then store it and supply it to every home, which requires quite a lot of money. Consequently, soon water resources will be depleted.

The government should set a free water usage limit for poor families. As it is a basic human right and essential for daily life, it should be reached by every family. When the government sets standard charges on the usage of water for middle- and elite families, then they will not waste it. In addition, they should also set charges for poor people when they exceed the free allowed water limits. As a result, there will be no burden on the government, and also no water resources will be depleted.

In conclusion, the government should set free supply to poor families in a limited use and should take charges from other people so that they will value water and not waste it.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear: you partly agree, supporting free provision for poorer households while arguing that other users should pay to discourage waste. You address the central issue and give relevant reasons, including the risk of waste and the cost of treating and distributing water. The proposal to provide a limited free allowance to poor families also gives your response a practical direction. However, some ideas are less fully developed than others. For example, the claim that free water would lead to use in swimming pools and gardens would be stronger with a specific explanation or example, and the financial burden and depletion of resources are asserted rather than clearly connected. Explain how your proposed charges would protect access while funding supply to make the argument more fully supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: it introduces your position, presents reasons against unlimited free supply, proposes a targeted alternative, and concludes with your recommendation. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Consequently,” and “In addition” help show relationships between points. The progression is generally easy to follow, though some connections are mechanical or unclear. For instance, “As water is required for daily consumption…” is a sentence fragment, and the shift from the cost of supply to depleted resources needs a clearer explanation. References such as “they” in “they will not waste it” could also be more precise about whether you mean middle- and higher-income families or the government. Develop clearer links between each claim and its consequence, and vary how you connect ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary to discuss the topic, including “basic human right,” “financial burden,” “water resources,” and “standard charges.” These choices communicate your main ideas, and the meaning remains clear. However, some wording is imprecise or repetitive, which limits flexibility and naturalness. “Free of cost” is understandable but less idiomatic than “free of charge,” while “other things like that” is vague and informal for an academic essay. Phrases such as “free allowed water limits” and “set free supply” are also awkwardly formed. Aim for more precise collocations and avoid repeating “free,” “water,” and “waste” where a more specific expression would help clarify your argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including conditional structures such as “if water is free, people will not value it” and a subordinate clause beginning “as it is a basic human right.” Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical errors remain. “As water is required for daily consumption…” is an incomplete sentence, and “which requires quite a lot of money” has an unclear reference. In “the government…as they clean water,” the pronoun does not agree clearly with its singular antecedent. The final sentence also needs a clearer grammatical structure around “set free supply to poor families in a limited use.” Practise complete sentence construction, clear pronoun reference, and accurate clause connections while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.