Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-26

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 5.0)

Clean water is the second most important thing in humans life next to oxygen. We can't go by without drinking water thus, from my standpoint it should be free of charge.

Water composes about 60% of the human body and no human can survive more than 5 days without water. If water is charged, it means at some point in life poor people will not be able to afford it. Subsequently, water is a necessity for daily chores essentially bathing, cooking, washing up clothes etc. Thus, costly water will only raise the bills, resulting in a harsh reaction from public.

For instance, place where there already is scarcity of water like in desserts or countries like Oman that effects the standard of life there. In countries like Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain water is desalinized making it costly.

in conclusion, water is an essential for daily livelihood just like oxygen and thus can not be used

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, reaching only 154 words. Consequently, the development of ideas is severely limited. While you state a clear position that water should be free, the arguments are underdeveloped. You mention the importance of water for survival and the cost of desalination, but these points lack the depth and supporting evidence required for an academic essay. The conclusion is incomplete, cutting off mid-sentence, which further impacts the task completion. To improve, you must expand on your arguments with more detailed explanations and examples, ensuring you meet the length requirement to allow for full development of your ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into short paragraphs, but the flow is hindered by the lack of length and the abrupt ending. You use some cohesive devices like 'thus' and 'subsequently', which help connect ideas, but the overall structure is underdeveloped. The transition between the importance of water and the economic argument regarding desalination is somewhat disjointed. To improve, ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence and that ideas are linked more fluidly. The incomplete conclusion significantly disrupts the coherence of the final part of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for basic communication but lacks the range and precision expected at higher bands. You use some relevant terms such as 'desalinized', 'scarcity', and 'necessity', which is positive. However, there are instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'go by without drinking water' and 'harsh reaction from public'. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and academic vocabulary. Avoid repetitive structures and ensure that your word choices are precise and natural in an academic context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. For example, 'humans life' should be 'human life', 'effects the standard' should be 'affects the standard', and 'in conclusion' is not capitalized. There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. While the meaning is generally clear, these errors occur frequently enough to impact the overall quality of the writing. Focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage, and aim to vary your sentence structures more effectively.

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

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