Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-20

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 6.0)

The main three things which a human requires for its survival are food, oxygen and water. Not having any of these might lead to death of a human being. Water has been an important aspect of everyone's lives whether being rich, poor or middle-class.

About 71% of our Earth's surface is covered by water. When we go into further classification of the sources of water, we realize that only 1% of it is clean , which we use to drink and prepare food. The question states that, water should be provided to everyone free of cost as it is a basic human right. However, I disagree with the given statement. Anything which has no cost or value, becomes useless or of less importance to the humans. And, if we started providing water free of cost, people will start wasting it notoriously, thinking that it is in abundance.

Clean water is an important resource which is spread across our globe unevenly. Incase of Middle-East countries, there is less availability of clean drinking water, conversely, Antarctica has abundant source of clean water in form of glaciers. So, if the government or any body starts selling clean water, how will our economy grow? It will cause a decline in country's overall income, additionally, an increase in water consumption leading to less availability of it.

One great example which occurs to my mind is that, temples provide free food to people on a festival, and various people waste that food just because that is free and nothing is asked in exchange of it. On the other hand, when people go to restaurants, they try to eat their food till the very last bite just because they have paid for it. Hence, people should be asked to pay for the water they drink so that there is a balance in our economy and in amount of water consumed.

So, I disagree with the given statement and would conclude that, everyone has a right to drink water, therefore it is not free for anyone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have clearly addressed the prompt by taking a firm position against the idea of free water. Your arguments regarding the economic impact and the potential for waste are relevant and well-supported. The example of temple food versus restaurant food is a strong, practical illustration of your point. To reach a higher band, you could further develop the counter-argument—perhaps by acknowledging that while water should not be 'free,' it should be 'affordable' or 'subsidized' for the poor—to show a more nuanced understanding of the 'human right' aspect mentioned in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph focuses on a central idea, such as the economic argument or the behavioral argument. You use cohesive devices like 'conversely,' 'in addition,' and 'on the other hand' to link your thoughts. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing in the second paragraph (e.g., 'Incase of Middle-East countries') is a bit abrupt. Improving the flow between sentences would help move this into the higher band range.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your ideas clearly. Phrases like 'basic human right,' 'abundant source,' and 'economic growth' are used appropriately. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'notoriously' (which usually implies a negative reputation rather than just 'excessively') and 'Incase of' (which should be 'In the case of'). Expanding your use of more sophisticated, academic collocations would enhance your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are recurring grammatical errors, such as 'The main three things which a human requires for its survival are...' (should be 'human beings require for their survival') and 'if we started providing... people will start' (conditional tense inconsistency). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some unnecessary commas, such as in 'conclude that, everyone has a right'. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and conditional tense consistency will help improve your accuracy.

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.