Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-04
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)
Clean water is necessary for survival, and access to this facility is every human's basic right. Some people argue that because water is essential for human life, it should be free for all, but I disagree with this. I believe that people should pay a reasonabale amount of fee or water bill in order to avoid water wastage. In this essay, I will share the reasons behind my viewpoint.
According to my perspective, human nature is quite complex. When people are presented with a free facility or convenience, they take it for granted and start to overuse it. If we take a look in our homes, we are provided with warm meals every day. But we still waste them. On the other hand, the people, who are suffering in war, tend to have little to no food. They survive on scraps, and eat each and every morsel without wasting it. This is because they know that these facilities are not readily available, hence, they should not waste them. This same case can happen with water. If it is made readily available, people will waste it. Because they know they don't have to worry about any consequences in the shape of water bills or taxes.
Water is a non-renewable energy source. Although 78 percent of Earth is covered in water, only 3 percent of it is only fresh and drinkable. This is quite a small amount as almost 8 billion people and billions of animals rely on it to live. If people are given an open door to such a precious source, they will not consider its value at the present time. But in the future, as many researches predict, clean water will become scare and by 2050, many countries will find it difficult to survive without proper water supply. Hence, in order to delay such event, water supply must not be made free. Proper affordable fees and taxes should be placed on water usage, in order to make people mindful of their actions.
Overall, basic human rights include access to clean water, but it does not mean it should be free. Everyone should be given proper facility of clean water supply, but at proper rate in order to prevent large-scale disasters like drought and deaths due to thirst.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.5 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0
The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position throughout the essay. The writer successfully argues that clean water should not be provided free of charge, supporting this stance with logical reasoning regarding water conservation and human behavior. Ideas are extended and supported, particularly in the discussion on how people take free resources for granted, though there is a slight tendency to over-generalise when comparing domestic water usage to the struggles of war victims. The arguments are generally well-developed, but pushing this response to a higher band would require deeper and more nuanced exploration of the economic policies surrounding water distribution.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0
The essay demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct central topic, moving smoothly from the introduction of the writer's stance to behavioral psychology, environmental scarcity, and finally a summarizing conclusion. Cohesive devices are used quite effectively, such as 'According to my perspective', 'On the other hand', and 'Hence', though there is occasionally a slightly mechanical feel to the referencing. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, ensuring the overall arrangement remains coherent and easy for the reader to follow from start to finish.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'non-renewable energy source', 'mindful of their actions', and 'scare' (intended as scarce). There are some noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as writing 'reasonabale amount of fee' instead of 'reasonable fee' and using 'scare' instead of 'scarce'. However, these vocabulary and spelling slips do not impede communication. To achieve a higher band, the writer would need to employ a wider range of sophisticated vocabulary with greater precision and fewer stylistic inaccuracies.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5
The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, successfully utilizing structures like conditional clauses ('If people are given an open door...') and relative clauses. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as unnecessary article usage ('only 3 percent of it is only fresh and drinkable') and awkward prepositional phrases or phrasing like 'according to my perspective' instead of 'in my view'. Because this performance sits at a half-band level, it successfully displays the control required for the lower band while showing glimpses of complex structure control, although frequent fully error-free sentences across a wider variety of advanced forms are still missing.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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