Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-30

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 6.5)

Clean water is not only good for health but also for daily usage. Clean water has sparked considerable discussion in recent years. Although some believe pure water should be provided free of cost by the government, others argue it would put financial burden on economy of the country. I totally disagree with this statement and this essay will explain why.

Firstly, facilitating purified water requires heavy investments on filtration and purification plants. If it had given free of cost it would put greater pressure on economy and the government as well. Let's take developing nations, as an example, which already have limited resources, providing free of charge fresh water to the public might cause negative development on other areas of basic necessities including better health care and quality education systems.

Secondly, people would not use it responsibly as they do not have to pay for it. The governments should put some taxes on purified water that can be afforded by the majority of the citizens. For instance, if the water would contain some taxes, not only it would be delivered and managed systematically but also public would be concerned about the appropriate use of it.

Turning to the other side, In third world countries the government should subsidize water to low-income families. In that case, nobody would be deprived of clean water, and their health would not be compromised as well.

All things considered, I strongly agree providing clean water with affordable price would be valuable, as it would ensure the responsible use as well as not harm the economic growth of disadvantaged areas. Although the governments should take responsibility to supply clean water to deprived people. The disadvantages of supplying free of cost clean water outweigh the advantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have clearly addressed the prompt and maintained a consistent position throughout the essay. You acknowledge the counter-argument while firmly arguing against free water provision, citing economic strain and the risk of resource mismanagement. The ideas are relevant and generally well-developed, particularly the point regarding the necessity of taxes to encourage responsible usage. To reach a higher band, ensure that your conclusion does not introduce new, slightly contradictory ideas; for instance, you mention that governments should subsidize water for low-income families in the body, but your conclusion focuses on the dangers of free water, which makes the overall stance slightly blurred. Further elaboration on the 'economic growth' aspect would have strengthened the argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use transition signals such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Turning to the other side' to guide the reader. However, the cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where the flow is slightly disrupted by awkward phrasing, such as the transition into the final paragraph. Referencing is generally clear, but some sentences feel disconnected from the previous ones. Improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall flow and coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'facilitating', 'purification plants', and 'subsidize'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'negative development on other areas' (should be 'negative impact on other areas') and 'put financial burden on economy' (missing articles). You attempt to use less common vocabulary, but the precision is occasionally lacking. To improve, focus on learning collocations—words that naturally go together—to ensure your writing sounds more natural and professional.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. For example, 'If it had given free of cost' is grammatically incorrect (should be 'If it were provided free of charge'), and 'if the water would contain some taxes' is an awkward use of the conditional. There are also missing articles throughout the text (e.g., 'on economy of the country'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your message, they occur frequently enough to limit your score. Focus on mastering conditional structures and article usage.

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

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