Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-19

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)

Although water is essential to every individual, providing it completely free of charge to every household may not be practical. Therefore, I strongly disagree with the idea that households should receive a free water supply.

In today's digital era, we have gone throught different problem one of those is water scarcity and when people get free access to use the water, they might misuse the facilities and start wasting the water for an example people might leave taps running unnecessarily or use large amount of water for activities such as washing cars and watering gardens. This can create a additional presure on the limited water resources, particularly in areas that experience water shortage.

Another important reason is that supplying clean water involves significant costs for governments. Water needs to be treated, transported through pipelines and regularly tested to ensure that it is safe for consumption. In addition, water infrastructure requires continuous maintenance and repair. If water were provided completely free of charge, governments would have to cover all these expenses using public funds. This could place considerable pressure on government budgets and reduce the money available for other essential services such as healthcare and education. Therefore, it would be more practical to charge households a reasonable amount for their water consumption while ensuring that low-income families can still access sufficient clean water.

In conclusion, although clean water is a basic necessity and everyone should have access to it, providing an unlimited supply completely free of charge is not practical. It could encourage unnecessary consumption and create a significant financial burden on governments. A reasonable pricing system, with support for people who cannot afford essential water supplies, would be a more sustainable approach.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task, taking a clear and well-developed position that completely free water is impractical. The introduction sets a firm stance, and the body paragraphs logically extend and support this position. For example, the writer explains how free access could lead to water scarcity, misuse, and unnecessary waste through activities like washing cars, and also highlights the financial and administrative burden on government budgets. The ideas are relevant and thoughtfully elaborated, demonstrating a solid understanding of the prompt's complexities. While the arguments could be slightly more nuanced, they are fully developed and sufficient to meet the descriptors for a Band 7.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response demonstrates clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The essay is divided into four appropriate paragraphs: an introduction, two distinct body paragraphs focusing on separate arguments (misuse and government costs), and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used effectively to guide the reader through the text, such as 'In today's digital era,' 'Another important reason is,' and 'In conclusion.' However, there is a minor mechanical phrasing in the introduction of the second paragraph ('we have gone throught different problem one of those is water scarcity'), which slightly detracts from natural flow. Overall, the paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, securing a solid Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating less common lexical items such as 'water scarcity,' 'infrastructure,' 'sustainable approach,' and 'consumption.' There are, however, occasional spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'throught' instead of 'through,' 'additional presure' with a single 's,' and 'a additional' instead of 'an additional.' Despite these slips, the vocabulary is generally precise enough to convey the intended meaning clearly without impeding communication, fitting comfortably within the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures effectively (e.g., 'If water were provided completely free of charge, governments would have to cover all these expenses...'). There are some noticeable grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('different problem' instead of 'a different problem' or 'different problems'), spelling mistakes ('throught'), and run-on phrasing in the second paragraph where multiple clauses are strung together ('and when people get free access to use the water, they might misuse...'). Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication, and the overall control is indicative of Band 6.0.

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.