Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-14

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)

Access to clean drinking water is essential for human survival and maintaining a healthy life cycle. Some people believe that access to clean water is a basic human right. I strongly agree with this view clean water is necessary for daily life, and we don't face difficulties regarding to purchase water with our own money.

Firstly, the government should provide a free water supply in every home it is very convenient for everyone. Moreover, it's a basic right of every human to drink clean water and have access to a water supply in their homes. Every individual needs water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and maintaining personal hygiene. If some people cannot afford a reliable water supply, they may be forced to use unsafe sources, which may cause serious diseases.

Secondly, a free water supply would reduce the financial burden on low-income families. Some households struggle to afford basic necessities because of limited income. Therefore, these are the responsibilities of the government to fulfill the needs of every individual. This would help reduce inequality and improve people's overall quality of life.

However, providing water requires investment in treatment facilities, pipelines, and maintenance. Some people waste the water if they do not have to pay for it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is clear: you strongly agree that clean water should be provided to homes, and you give relevant reasons, including health risks for people who rely on unsafe sources and the financial burden on low-income families. However, the response addresses the task only partially because the ideas are brief and the counterpoint about investment and water waste is not explained or answered. The essay contains 196 words, so it is 54 words below the required minimum; the nine words copied from the prompt are not counted. This limits the space available to develop your reasons and support them with a specific example. Extend each main point with explanation or an example, and respond directly to the concern about waste or cost.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two paragraphs supporting free provision, and a final paragraph introducing concerns. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Moreover,” “Secondly,” and “However” help signal the direction of the argument. However, the progression is not fully developed: the final paragraph raises cost and waste but does not connect these concerns to your position or explain how they might be addressed. Some links are also awkward, particularly the opening sentence of the first body paragraph, where two ideas run together without clear punctuation. Build a clearer progression by giving each paragraph one main purpose and using linking sentences to show how each reason supports your overall view.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “clean water,” “unsafe sources,” “financial burden,” “low-income families,” and “treatment facilities.” These phrases show some ability to discuss health, affordability, and infrastructure. However, the range is limited, with repeated use of “water supply,” “basic,” and “individual,” and some expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “healthy life cycle” and “fulfill the needs.” More precise collocations would make the argument clearer and more academic. For example, describe the effect on health as “maintaining good health,” and refer to government action as “meeting people’s essential needs.” Continue building topic vocabulary and vary repeated terms without changing their meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional sentence: “If some people cannot afford a reliable water supply, they may be forced to use unsafe sources.” This is clear and shows some control of clause structure. However, several sentences contain punctuation or grammatical-pattern problems that interrupt the flow. In “I strongly agree with this view clean water is necessary,” two independent clauses are joined without suitable punctuation or a linking word. Similarly, “the government should provide a free water supply in every home it is very convenient” needs a full stop or conjunction. The phrase “difficulties regarding to purchase” also has an incorrect preposition pattern. Use sentence boundaries carefully and check verb and preposition patterns when editing.

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

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