Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-28

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)

While some advocate that governments should distribute safe water freely as it is a necessary human right, I completely disagree with this assertion because it leads to severe environmental degradation and creates massive infrastructural strains.

First and foremost, there are several reasons why I hold this view. One possible reason is it caused significant environmental degradation. Human psychology thinks that when some resources are free, they take it for granted, and disrespect that essential resource. Consequently, if households and industries are not billed for their water usage, it encourages them overconsumption of water. This massive water waster directly leads to the rapid depletion of natural fresh-water reservoirs, which ultimately cause the infrastructural strains. Government invest huge amount of money for building a system for pure water supply for their residents. Massive overconsumption of water often results in system failure and disrupts the water supply. For example, people often leave the tap running these days, which ultimately causes water shortage in a high-rise building.

Furthermore, although water itself is natural, a huge amount of money need for purifying, testing and distributing the pure water. As a result, free water supply might put a huge burden on policy makers, which hampers the economic resource allocation system as well. Moreover, governments can use the water tax for other essential development, such as expanding the public transport facilities, improving the hospitals, and many more. I am not saying that authority should put a high-water tax, but at least minimum charge should be taken for the pure water supply. For instance, in China, pure water supply is not totally free, but it is much cheaper. One family pay roughly 5 rmb (less than 1$) for monthly water supply.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that although water is essential for every creature of the world, the concept of free water supply will create detrimental impacts for society in the future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have clearly stated your position in the introduction and maintained it throughout the essay. The arguments regarding environmental degradation and economic strain are relevant and well-supported with examples, such as the mention of water usage in China. To reach a higher band, ensure that your ideas are fully developed; for instance, the link between 'infrastructural strains' and 'system failure' could be explained with more depth. Overall, you have addressed all parts of the prompt effectively, providing a balanced view while firmly defending your stance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as the phrase 'which ultimately cause the infrastructural strains', where the antecedent is slightly ambiguous. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas, contributing to the overall flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision, using terms like 'environmental degradation', 'economic resource allocation', and 'detrimental impacts'. There are occasional inaccuracies in word choice or collocation, such as 'it caused significant' (should be 'it causes') and 'massive water waster' (should be 'waste'). While you attempt to use less common vocabulary, these minor slips prevent a higher score. Focusing on accurate word forms and collocations will help improve your lexical precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'a huge amount of money need' instead of 'needs') and article usage (e.g., 'invest huge amount of money'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are noticeable and occur throughout the text. To improve, pay closer attention to verb tenses and pluralization when constructing complex sentences.

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

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