Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-08

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 7.5)

In this contemporary era, water is the main source of living for every individual. Owing to this, access to potable water is a basic human right. As a result, every house should have water supply free of charge. I partly agree with this statement that every home should provide free of charge water supply.

On the one hand, the most prominent reason of my agreement is it improves public health. To explicate, universal access of water improves community hygiene and also lowers the long term cost in healthcare for the government and also for the individuals. In addition to this, it also help to reduce illness in the society. For example, low-income families cannot afford water bills, they are often forced to rely on contaminated local sources. This drastically increases the spread of waterborne illness outbreaks like cholera and typhoid.

On the other hand, the principle reason why I disagree is it will lead to overconsumption. To elaborate, Although fresh water is a natural resource, it is by no means inexhaustible. If households were granted unlimited access without payment, many people would take it for granted, leading to irresponsible usage such as leaving taps running or using large volumes of water for non-essential purposes.

In conclusion, while free water promotes public health and protects low-income households, unlimited access risks widespread waste. Therefore, a balanced policy that provides a free basic allowance for survival, while charging for excessive consumption, is the most sustainable approach to safeguarding both human rights and this finite resource.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you partly agree, supporting free access for health reasons while opposing unlimited, unpaid use. Both sides are relevantly addressed, and the examples of low-income households relying on contaminated sources and of wasteful household practices help explain your reasoning. The conclusion also develops a practical compromise—a free basic allowance with charges for excess use—which gives the response a clear outcome. To strengthen the argument further, explain how the allowance would be defined or funded, and develop the overconsumption point with a specific consequence, such as pressure on local supplies. This would make the supporting ideas more fully developed rather than relying partly on general claims.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The response follows a clear progression: introduction and position, a paragraph supporting free provision, a contrasting paragraph about waste, and a conclusion that reconciles the two. Signposting such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” makes the structure easy to follow, while “For example” introduces relevant support. The final proposal connects logically to both sides of the discussion. Some linking is slightly formulaic, and “To explicate” and “To elaborate” perform similar functions at the start of consecutive body paragraphs. Aim for more varied, less conspicuous transitions, and make links between claims and their consequences explicit—for instance, how charging for excess use would discourage waste while preserving basic access.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

You use a suitable range of topic vocabulary, including “potable water,” “community hygiene,” “contaminated local sources,” “waterborne illness,” and “finite resource.” These choices help express the health and sustainability arguments precisely, and the tone is generally appropriate for an academic essay. There are occasional awkward or imprecise collocations, however: “water is the main source of living” and “the most prominent reason of my agreement” do not sound natural, while “universal access of water” would be better expressed with a different preposition. “Free of charge water supply” is also less natural than “a free water supply.” Continue building collocational accuracy and choose direct, idiomatic phrasing instead of unnecessarily formal expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.0

You demonstrate a useful mix of simple and complex structures, including conditional forms in “If households were granted unlimited access…” and a contrastive concluding clause beginning “while.” Many sentences are clear and correctly punctuated, and the argument remains easy to understand. A few grammatical errors persist: “every house should have water supply” needs an article, “it also help” should be “it also helps,” and the comma splice in “families cannot afford water bills, they are often forced…” should be corrected with a conjunction or a full stop. The capital letter in “Although” after “To elaborate,” is also unnecessary. Check articles, subject–verb agreement, and sentence boundaries during revision to make your complex writing more consistently accurate.

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