Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-23
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)
It is true that access to clean water is a basic human right and without water life is not possible. Therefore it is said that each house should have a free supply of water. I completely disagree with the idea of free water supply because it may lead to several disadvantages such as overusage and wastage.
Water is a everuday need of every person but it is impractical to give free access of clean water to each house because it create certain issues such as overusage. Clean water is already present in a limited amount and many areas have a less and fixed supply of clean drinkable water and providing it free of cost results in extra usage and storage of water without need people will store water unneceserrily. When people pay for money they have a fear of extra bill in mind and use water wisely but without money the value of clean water decrease among people and eventually shortage of water become an issue. Therefore water should not be provided in free of cost.
Analysing further, providing free water to every home can create a burden over government because cleaning of water need a big system and expensive purifiers also a large number of staff work there a proper pipeline system is neede in region with regular maintainance which costs alot to authorities which they have to recover from the water bill given by households but if water is provided without any cost authorities would not recover money and government have to invest more in this sector which may decrease the budget for other essential sectors such as education and healthcare.
To conclude, no doubt water is the important factor of human life but providing it for free will lead to several issues such as usage without need and wastage it also create a budget issue over government hence water should be a payable resource for every citizen so they use it wisely and value it.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response clearly addresses the prompt, taking a firm and consistent position against providing free water. The student introduces relevant arguments, such as the risk of overusage and wastage, as well as the financial and logistical burden placed on the government. While these ideas are logically presented, the development in places feels a bit repetitive, and the reasoning could be extended with more specific examples. For instance, mentioning specific ways other public utilities are managed would have strengthened the position. Nevertheless, the main parts of the task are adequately covered, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Progression is visible as the essay moves from individual consumption to government impact. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or overused, such as repeating 'Therefore' or linking clauses with run-on structures. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within paragraphs suffers due to a lack of proper punctuation and varying sentence boundaries. For example, sentences like 'Analysing further, providing free water to every home can create a burden over government because...' run together too many clauses without adequate separation. This places the text securely in Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common items such as 'impractical', 'purifiers', and 'resources'. However, there are numerous word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'everuday' instead of 'everyday', 'unneceserrily' instead of 'unnecessarily', and 'payable resource' instead of 'paid resource'. Collocations are also occasionally unnatural, for instance, 'create a burden over government' instead of 'place a burden on the government'. Despite these errors, communication is not impeded, and the range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, aligning with Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control is inconsistent. There is a heavy reliance on run-on sentences connected by conjunctions rather than proper punctuation and subordination. For example, the sentence 'Clean water is already present in a limited amount and many areas have a less and fixed supply of clean drinkable water and providing it free of cost results in extra usage...' contains multiple clauses fused together without adequate periods or semi-colons. Grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('cleaning of water need') and missing articles, are frequent. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar score at 5.0.
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