Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-29
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)
In recent years, human health has been badly effected due to poor access to clean water. Various people believe that it is the basic right of every human being to have access to safe and clean water. I completely agree with the statement because water is the basic necessity for survival.
Firstly, every home should have access to clean and safe water to drink then comes the other necessities like bathing, washing dishes and performing other household chores. Nowadays, it has became a challenge to even have safe water for drinking and it is the main cause of people developing hazardous health conditions i.e; Kasur is a region of the Lahore, Pakistan where people don't have access to clean water and the ratio of typhoid is extremely high in this region.
Moreover, water is polluted from the very first level of supply. Large factories and industries dispose off their waste in water and that waste is when mixed with water, it pollutes it. The water is then supplied through the pipelines to different societies and homes where people use this polluted water for sanitation and drinking purposes.i.e; a survey was conducted by a company at industrial level and they analyzed about 78% of the water supplied is polluted with hazardous gases,human and animal waste, petroleum and lead.
In my opinion, it is very important for governments to develop national policies to initiate specific clean water programmes because without any initiative, this will increase the possible mobility and mortality rates across population. We ourselves also need to be cautious about our health and should boil water before use.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt directly, taking a clear and well-supported position in agreement with the statement. The writer extends ideas by discussing health impacts, such as typhoid in Kasur, and industrial pollution. However, while the main arguments are relevant, some parts suffer from a tendency to overgeneralise or lack deeper extension. For instance, the mention of industrial waste is introduced well, but the supporting evidence regarding 78% of water being polluted is presented generally rather than fully integrated into the broader argument about free water supply. Overall, all parts of the task are addressed, earning a solid Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 for its clear position.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear central topic. Paragraphing is utilised adequately, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs discussing different aspects of the issue, and a concluding recommendation. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Firstly', 'Moreover', and 'In my opinion'. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or abrupt, and referencing is occasionally faulty, such as in phrases like 'that waste is when mixed with water'. Paragraphing could be further refined to ensure smoother progression of ideas between causes of water pollution and the solutions proposed by governments.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'hazardous health conditions', 'sanitation', and 'mortality rates'. However, there are notable word-choice and collocation errors that prevent a higher band, such as 'badly effected' instead of 'affected', 'became' instead of 'become', and 'dispose off' instead of 'dispose of'. Punctuation errors with abbreviations also occur, such as 'i.e;'. Despite these inaccuracies, the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main ideas clearly without major misunderstandings.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over multi-clause sentences, such as 'In my opinion, it is very important for governments to develop national policies to initiate specific clean water programmes because without any initiative, this will increase the possible mobility and mortality rates across population.' There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Various people believe' instead of 'Some people believe'), article omission ('across population' instead of 'across the population'), and spelling errors ('effected' for 'affected'). These errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to place the grammar securely in the Band 6 category.
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.