Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-19
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)
Clean water is the basic necessity of human beings, and it should be free of cost and provided to every household as it inevitable to have second thought about that. Without clean water, a number of daily chores get affected.
Clean water, helps in daily routine as it is used in washing, drinking and cooking etc. It is the essential part of everyday life for humans. For example, in 2015, a study in an Australian health centre was conducted, and it was seen that using clean water enhances the ability to work. Less time was consumed in house-work as they didn't need to sanitise or to follow the steps to clean the water first to do the work later.
Water with no impurities has a lot of health benefits as well, by consuming purified water people get less sick and stay healthy. It eventually enhances the ability to work. Taking an example from a survey in the New York, the number of people affected with diarrhoea and kidney stones have decreased to 47% in 2021 which was 62% in 2018. Also the skin infections also gets lessen with the consumption of clean and purified water.
To summarize this all, clean water is not just the sustantial for the daily routine, it is also important for the health issue such as diarrhoea, kidney stones and skin infections.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, which significantly impacts the development of ideas. While you state a clear position that water should be free, the arguments are under-developed. You provide examples, but they lack depth and the connection to the prompt's core issue—the economic and social implications of universal free water—is superficial. The conclusion is very brief and does not adequately summarise the main points or reinforce your position. To improve, you must expand your arguments with more detailed analysis and ensure you meet the length requirement to allow for full development of your ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat mechanical. You use basic cohesive devices like 'For example' and 'To summarize', but the transitions between sentences within paragraphs are sometimes abrupt. The referencing is generally clear, but the logical flow between the health benefits and the economic argument for 'free' water is not fully established. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You use some relevant terms like 'necessity', 'impurities', and 'sanitise', but there are instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'it inevitable to have second thought about that' and 'sustantial for the daily routine'. There are also minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'skin infections also gets lessen'. To reach a higher band, focus on using more sophisticated vocabulary and ensuring that words are used in their correct grammatical form and context.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('skin infections also gets lessen') and awkward sentence construction ('Clean water, helps in daily routine'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure often feels repetitive. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to lower the score. You should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical errors and practice using a wider variety of complex sentence structures with greater precision.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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