Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-01

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)

As humans, clean water is basic human necessity that is required by every human being. I personally agree with the fact that government should be responsible for providing water supply to every household. As it is also one of the Sustainability Development Goal to provide clean water. The reason why I agree is given in this essay.

One of the major reason being, water is a basic necessity required in every household. Moreover, a large amount of harmful and major dieaseases are caused by the lack of pure water. Government should take responsibilty of providing water supply. That will eventually help a middle class individual. Children in South Africa are suffering from this very problem, which is having no access to clean water. A personal incident occured which made me realized the importance of clean water. There was a time, when I went up in the mountains where the supply of clean water was extremely rare due to that, I had no other option but to drink the water that was available. A really bad stomachache hit me right after I drank that.

On the other hand, If the cost of having clean water substantially increases then a major percentage of people from our country will suffer. As most of the middle class families survives on a limited monthly budget. Nevertheless, if an ordinary man had to install a water supply in his house, it would be close to impossible to make such investment.

In a nutshell, Every human being should be provided with the basic thing like water for free. As a large amount of individuals living in our country belongs to a lower middle class background and by providing them free access to a water supply that is installed in each and every house will give them ease in doing their daily tasks by having a heathy body.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position agreeing that governments should provide a free water supply. The main arguments are introduced, such as health benefits and economic relief for middle-class families, as seen in the mention that 'a large amount of harmful and major diseases are caused by the lack of pure water.' However, some ideas are under-developed or supported with weak examples. For instance, the personal anecdote about a stomachache in the mountains lacks strong connection to the broader socio-economic argument, and the reference to children in South Africa is introduced briefly without adequate extension. To reach the next level, the writer needs to expand on these examples with deeper analysis rather than relying on brief mentions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance established in the introduction and maintained throughout. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct points, such as the health reasons in the second paragraph and the financial implications in the third. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Transition markers like 'One of the major reason being' and 'On the other hand' are utilized, but referencing and logical flow can be clunky, as seen in the slightly disjointed transition between sentences in the second paragraph. To improve further, the writer should ensure smoother transitions between ideas and make referencing more precise to enhance the overall progression of the argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate main ideas about public utilities and socio-economic struggles reasonably well. The student attempts less common vocabulary, such as 'Sustainability Development Goal' and 'substantially increases', but there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, including 'dieaseases' (spelling error), 'major dieaseases' instead of 'major diseases', and 'survives on' instead of 'survive on'. While these errors do not impede communication, they reflect limitations in precision and word form control. Expanding vocabulary range and ensuring accurate spelling and word partnerships will help lift the lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use varied structures such as conditional and relative clauses, as seen in 'if an ordinary man had to install a water supply in his house, it would be close to impossible'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that persist throughout the text. Issues include subject-verb agreement errors like 'One of the major reason being', article misuse such as 'a basic human necessity' missing an article or pluralization, and punctuation problems like the comma splice in 'On the other hand, If the cost...'. These structures provide a foundation, but greater accuracy in basic grammar rules and complex patterns is required for higher bands.

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