Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-13

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)

It is true that access to clean water is a basic human right. Many people believe that every household should have a water supply free of charge. I partially agree with this statement because, although everyone should have access to clean water, providing it entirely free of charge could place a financial burden on water-management departments.

To begin with, access to clean water is a basic human right. One of the major reasons is that clean water is essential for survival, yet many people living below the poverty line lack access to safe drinking water, particularly in slum areas. Therefore, providing a basic amount of water free of charge could protect vulnerable people and help them meet their daily needs. For example, ensuring a regular water supply in slum areas would allow residents to collect and store sufficient water for drinking, cooking and other household purposes.

On the contrary, access to safe drinking water should not be free for everyone. One of the compelling arguments is that the maintenance cost, which is required for the purification, filtration and management of supple systems. Therefore, water department should charge a reasonable amount of fees to the people who are above poverty line and can afford it. For example, Water management department could assess the financial back ground of its customers and determine the charges according to that. Hence, those who cannot afford to pay the bill could get water for free and others will pay the bill as per water usage.

To sum up, water is a basic necessity for everyone. It should be free to those individuals who do not have access to safe drinking water, particularly poor people. Whereas, those who can pay must be chagred by water management department.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you support free access for people in need but oppose making all household water free. You address both sides and give relevant examples, such as residents in slum areas needing water for drinking and cooking, and charges being adjusted according to ability to pay. This meets the task well. However, some reasoning is less fully developed: the claim that free provision could burden water departments is introduced but not explained with detail, and the proposed assessment of customers’ finances is not explored for how it would work. To strengthen the response, develop these points and make the distinction between a free basic allowance and paid additional use more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure, with an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs and a conclusion. The progression from the right to water, to the costs of supplying it, and then to your conditional position is easy to follow. Linking phrases such as “To begin with,” “On the contrary” and “To sum up” help signal the stages of the argument. At times, however, cohesion feels mechanical, and the contrast between the paragraphs could be expressed more precisely. The conclusion’s “Whereas” sentence is also a fragment rather than a complete concluding statement. Use a wider range of links and clearer referencing, and connect the final contrast directly to your main position.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “vulnerable people,” “purification,” “filtration” and “financial burden,” and your meaning remains clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “compelling arguments.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward: “supple systems” appears to be an incorrect form, “amount of fees” is unnatural, and “financial back ground” is incorrectly written and phrased. “Chagred” is also misspelled. These slips limit the precision of the vocabulary, even though they do not prevent understanding. Aim to check spelling and use natural combinations such as “water-supply systems,” “a reasonable fee” and “household income.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including the concessive clause “although everyone should have access to clean water” and the relative clause describing maintenance costs. Most ideas are understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. In “One of the compelling arguments is that the maintenance cost, which is required…,” the clause is incomplete and does not clearly state the argument. “Water department should charge” needs an article or plural form, while “those who cannot afford to pay the bill could get water for free and others will pay” shifts between conditional and future forms. The final “Whereas” clause is also a sentence fragment. Review complete clause structure, articles and consistent verb forms to improve accuracy.

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