Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)
Water is an essential human necessity, its governments responsibility to provide clean water accessible to all people, but free of charge supply is practically not possible. I disagree with this statement because of two main reasons.
Free water access should be mandatory for every human being but free water supply for household and industrial use will put additional burden on the water supply infrastructure. Water treatment requires electricity, workers and equipment, Pipes and water plants need regular maintenance and repair. If household pays nothings then government needs to compensate all this through taxes/public funds which will lead to an additional burden on government budget. For example in big cities constant water supply and maintainance throughout the city cost a lot of money.
so its practically quite difficult for a government to provide free supply of water.
Another point here is free supply of water leads to unnecessary/overuse of water. Conservation of water becomes more difficult. When people knows they have to pay cost for their water use, they will use it wisely. For example closing taps after use, avoiding unnecessary long showers. Apart from this basic supply for water essential for life can be provided free while excess use can be charged .Government can also help underpriviliged and poor people by providing them with subsidized water supply.
In conclusion, yes its mandatory to have a free access to water all the time but free water supply is practically impossible. Basic free supply and charges for excess use can be good solution for this.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The response addresses the prompt directly, taking a clear and well-supported position against providing free household water. The main ideas, such as the strain on public infrastructure and the risk of water wastage, are relevant and extended with explanations and examples, such as mentioning maintenance costs and water conservation behaviors. The writer also offers a nuanced perspective by suggesting that a basic allowance could be free while excess usage is charged. While the development is generally good, some points border on generalisation and could have been expanded further. However, all parts of the task are addressed, and a clear position is maintained throughout, fitting the Band 7 descriptor well.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression. The introduction outlines the writer's stance, body paragraphs examine distinct arguments (infrastructure costs and overuse), and a conclusion summarises the position. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Another point here' and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and transitions are at times slightly mechanical or abrupt, such as the standalone sentence 'so its practically quite difficult for a government to provide free supply of water.' Despite minor cohesion flaws, there is a clear overall structure and logical progression, aligning with Band 6.5 to 7.0, comfortably earning a Band 6.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'infrastructure', 'subsidized', and 'underprivileged'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, including 'free of charge supply is practically not possible', 'household pays nothings', and 'unnecessary/overuse'. Spelling and morphological errors like 'maintainance' instead of 'maintenance' and missing apostrophes ('knows they have to pay') also occur. While these errors do not impede overall communication, the frequent slips in word formation and precision prevent the response from achieving a higher lexical band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating conditional ideas and relative clauses. There are, however, frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding missing articles ('its governments responsibility', 'through taxes'), subject-verb agreement issues ('When people knows'), punctuation omissions, and run-on structures. For instance, the sentence 'Water is an essential human necessity, its governments responsibility to provide clean water accessible to all people, but free of charge supply is practically not possible' contains comma splices and missing possessive markers. While many sentences are understandable, the density of grammatical slips keeps this criterion at a Band 6.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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