Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-17

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)

Access of clean water is essential for human life, everyone should have enough safe water on their daily lives. Some people should belive that every home should received a free water supply. I paritaly agree with this notion because basic water needs should be provided by everyone, but unlimited water shouild not be completely free.

On the one hand, Clean water is necessary for every person. People needs water foe drinking, cooking, and maintain hygine. If poor families to pay fo water they may reduce the water usage, which can cause health issues. For Instance, Therefore, Government should take step for deliver water on every house especialy low income family. These can help to improve the public health and better way of living.

However, Making all water totaly free could lead unnecessary to waste. When people do not have to pay much money they used much more water on daily usage. This put pressure on limited water resources especially in that area when poor people really suffer of water shortage. In addition, Government maintain money for underground pipelines and repaired the different plants. A reasonble water charge can helps cover the costs and encourage the residential to use water responsibly.

To Sum up, I believe that every person should access the little amount of money to clean water. Governments should offer free or affordable essential water to households while charge for excessive consumption but providing unlimited water free of cost . Organization should offer free or affordable essential water to households while charging for excessive consumption.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by taking a clear, partially agreed position regarding whether clean water should be free for every home. The student develops relevant ideas on both sides of the argument: the necessity of water for public health versus the risk of waste and strain on resources if unlimited water is entirely free. However, some arguments are slightly repetitive or underdeveloped in places, such as the conclusion where ideas become a bit muddled. The position is maintained throughout, satisfying the requirements for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different facets of the argument. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, with awkward transitions and referencing issues (e.g., 'These can help', 'when poor people really suffer of water shortage'). Additionally, some cohesive devices feel repetitive, and the final paragraph contains contradictory phrasing that disrupts the logical progression, placing it firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'essential', 'public health', and 'excessive consumption'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'Access of clean water', 'belive', 'paritaly', 'hygine', 'For Instance, Therefore', 'totaly', 'residential' instead of residents, and 'charge' where it should be 'charging'. These errors occasionally cause mild strain for the reader, aligning well with the Band 5.5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some ambition in sentence structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent errors in subject-verb agreement ('everyone should have', 'People needs', 'Government maintain'), missing prepositions, and faulty verb forms ('may reduce', 'could lead unnecessary to waste', 'repaired the different plants'). While these errors do not completely obscure the overall meaning, they are persistent throughout the essay, indicating a solid Band 5.0 performance.

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.