Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-28
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)
Some people argue that clean water is the basic human need. Therefore the authorities should not charge for it and provide free water supply to every household. To some extant i disagree with this because if water is provided without fee the people will waste it.
On the one hand, citizens think that water is esential human right, and it should be provided to every home without any charges. This is because water is important for every living thing if it is animals,humans or trees everyone need it to stay alive and without it life is impossible. Therefore the availability of clean water is crucial and the government should not charge for it due to the fact that most individuals can not afford it. for example, if a person is living in a tent and do not have a job how could he pay for water, which is important for him to live. As a result the authorities should provide free water supply to evey home.
On the other hand, I disagree with this opinion, I believe that if water is provided free of cost they will start wasting it. Because i think that when something is given to someone without charging him, then there is no value for it in his view. For example if we start charging citizens for water, then they will not waste water and they will take care of it . Therefore we should not give them free water facility.
In conclusion, although water is important for life and it should be given to every house, i think that the authorities should charge for it so people do not start wasting water.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both sides of the debate regarding free clean water and clearly states a personal position of disagreement in the introduction and body paragraphs. Ideas are extended, such as the consequence of water wastage when provided without charge, and supported with reasoning. However, there is a tendency to over-generalise and some points remain slightly repetitive, which keeps the task response within the Band 6 territory. For instance, the writer mentions that 'if water is provided without fee the people will waste it' and reiterates this idea in multiple sections without introducing further distinct dimensions to the argument. To achieve a higher band, the student should broaden the scope of arguments, perhaps discussing infrastructural costs or government funding models.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion logically. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion', to guide the reader through the structure of the argument. However, referencing and cohesion are at times mechanical or faulty. For instance, the transition 'if it is animals,humans or trees everyone need it' lacks smooth integration, and pronoun referencing in sentences like 'if water is provided free of cost they will start wasting it' is slightly ambiguous regarding who 'they' refers to initially. Logical progression is present, but overall control of cohesive devices requires refinement to reach a higher band score.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'authorities', 'availability', 'crucial', and 'infrastructure'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are accompanied by noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'esential' instead of 'essential', 'extant' instead of 'extent', and 'evey' instead of 'every'. Furthermore, phrasing can be somewhat repetitive, relying frequently on basic descriptors like 'important'. These inaccuracies do not heavily impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the arguments easily, but they prevent the lexical score from rising into the higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at conditional structures and relative clauses, such as 'if a person is living in a tent and do not have a job how could he pay for water'. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including missing capitalization ('i'), subject-verb agreement issues ('trees everyone need it'), and punctuation lapses such as missing commas in complex sentences and lowercase letters at the beginning of sentences. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, the frequency of grammatical slips prevents the response from achieving a Band 7.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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