Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-12

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 5.5)

Water is essential to human life. One of the fundamental human rights is access to clean water. Therefore some people claim that a water supply should be distributed to each home for free. However, I disagree with this statement for two main reasons.

First of all, it would reduce jobs. There are lots of people who make money by water. If it once get provided, thousands of people would lose their jobs. For example, famous water brands like 'Evian' of 'Fiji', earn more than billions and have thousands of employees working all around the world. However, once they are provided without any charges, they will all lose their jobs and eventually will experience hard time maintaining their livelihood.

Second, people will not put on effort to make money. People get education, study hard, and compete with one another to earn money and guarantee their basic human life. However, if it is provided, majority of people will lose their enthusiam to get a job and make money. For instance, in Korea, if we get fired, the government gives them money. The purpose of it was to encourage them to get a job once again, but it is spend to just travel and use it for their own.

For conclusion, although to get access to clean water is a major human right, I believe that every home should not have a water supply that is provided free of chare because people working in that kind of industry will lose their jobs and people will not try hard to gain money.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is clear: you disagree, and you give two reasons—possible job losses and reduced motivation to work. However, the response only partially addresses the question because it does not explain how providing household water free of charge would affect bottled-water companies or employment in water utilities; the Evian and Fiji example is not clearly connected to a free public supply. The Korea example about unemployment support is also only loosely related to access to water. Develop more directly relevant reasoning, such as how free access could be funded or how essential water needs could be protected while charging for high usage. The response is 249 words, one word below the 250-word minimum; the nine words copied from the prompt are not counted.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction states your disagreement, two body paragraphs present separate reasons, and a conclusion restates your view. Sequencing phrases such as “First of all,” “Second,” and “For conclusion” help readers follow this structure. However, some links between claims and examples are not fully clear. In particular, the move from free household water to bottled-water brands losing all their jobs needs explanation, and the Korea example does not clearly support the point about motivation. Some transitions also feel mechanical. To strengthen progression, explain the connection between each example and its main claim, and use referencing that makes clear who “they” refers to in the Korea paragraph.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough vocabulary to communicate your main position and reasons, including phrases such as “fundamental human rights,” “provided without any charges,” and “maintaining their livelihood.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems make parts less natural or precise. For example, “people who make money by water” is unclear, while “lose their enthusiam” contains a spelling error and “hard time” is informal in this context. “For free” and “without any charges” also repeat the same idea. Aim for more precise terms related to the issue, such as water providers, public funding, employment, and household consumption, and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “However” and “if,” and your main meaning is generally understandable. However, errors occur frequently, particularly in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “If it once get provided” should use a correctly formed conditional, and “the government gives them money” shifts awkwardly from “we” to “them.” In “the purpose of it was to encourage them … but it is spend,” the tense and passive form are not controlled. There are also missing articles in phrases such as “majority of people.” Practise accurate conditional and passive structures, and check that subjects and pronouns remain consistent.

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

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