Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-18

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 to clean water is essential for human survival and should be available to everyone. However, I strongly disagree that water supply is free of cost. In my view, policy makers should provide free water to people who can't afford while for other households there should be reasonable charges for water supply.

First of all, clean water is necessary for maintaining good health and hygiene. If citizens cannot afford water, they may be forced to use unsafe sources that may lead to serious health dilemma. Therefore, government have a responsibility to ensure that every resident has access to basic amount of safe drinking water. For instance, low-income families should receive a free limited allowance each month, while additional usage should be charged.

On the other hand, providing unlimited water without any charges may cause unnecessary use of water. water is a limited natural resource. So, people could becoming careless about its use if they don't have to pay anything. A reasonable water bill can encourage society to avoid wasting water. To exemplify, people may be aware about leaking taps, taking short showers and consuming less water in gardening.

In conclusion, water is crucial for well-being. Hence, higher authorities should ensure that everyone has access to safe drinking water. However, I firmly disagree that water supply is completely free because individual could waste water if they are not paying any charges on water consumption.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear and developed position on whether water should be provided free to everyone. The writer argues for a nuanced approach: free basic water for low-income households, and paid consumption for others. The main ideas are relevant and supported with explanations regarding health and conservation. However, the length requirement has NOT been met, as the response contains only 233 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum. This under-length impacts the overall development of ideas and requires a downward adjustment in the Task Achievement score, placing it firmly at Band 5.5 despite a logical and clear argumentative structure.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear overall arrangement with an introduction, two body paragraphs representing different aspects of the argument, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas about health from ideas about conservation. Cohesive devices are employed to link sentences and paragraphs, such as 'First of all', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and transitions are sometimes basic or slightly mechanical (e.g., 'water is a limited natural resource. So, people could becoming careless...'). Despite these minor issues, the progression of ideas is coherent and easy to follow throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The lexical resource is adequate for the task, demonstrating an understanding of vocabulary related to public policy and resource management. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items and phrases, such as 'policy makers', 'limited allowance', and 'natural resource'. However, there are notable word choice and phrasing inaccuracies, such as 'health dilemma' instead of 'health crisis' or 'health hazard', and 'individual could waste water' where 'individuals' or 'people' would be more appropriate. Spelling and word formation errors also appear, such as 'people could becoming careless'. These inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. Examples of complex structures include 'If citizens cannot afford water, they may be forced to use unsafe sources...' and '...while additional usage should be charged.' However, there are several noticeable grammatical errors and awkward structures. For instance, 'government have a responsibility' contains a subject-verb agreement error, and 'people could becoming careless' contains an incorrect verb form. Punctuation and articles also show occasional lapses (e.g., 'water is a limited natural resource' starting with a lowercase letter mid-paragraph). These errors occasionally distract the reader but do not impede overall communication.

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

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