Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

It is believed that consuming clean water is a basic human right. Therefore, every household should have access to a water supply that is free of cost. I agree with the statement as water is a necessity of life and important for our health.

I firmly believe that clean water should be provided to every household, as water is essential for our life and its is directly linked to our health. For instance,

in my country, tap water usually is dirty and one day, I was very thirsty. I drank water from that tap and after a short period of time, I started to have severe pain in my stomach, head and eyes. Later, the doctor told me it happened due to the bad water I drank. New born babies or old aged people are more sensitive to disease, so thats why it is necessary to have clean water supply in every house hold.

Furthermore, clean water is essential in almost every household task, whether its personal hygiene, cooking meals, cleaning clothes, etc. Many homes have to wait until they arrange clean water from somewhere, leaving no time for work, studies or other tasks. In many religion, you need clean water to perform ablution, without purifying yourself you cannot offer prayer. Therefore, clean water is very important for a better and healthy lifestyle.

In conclusion, every house should have access to clean water without any cost, as it directly impact our lifestyle and health.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that households should receive clean water without charge, and you give relevant reasons about health, domestic tasks and religious practice. The personal account of becoming ill after drinking tap water is a concrete example, although it would be stronger with a clearer link to why the supply should be free rather than simply clean. The points about household tasks and ablution are relevant but are mostly listed rather than explained or supported. The response is 235 words, so it is 15 words below the required minimum; the nine words copied from the prompt are not included in that count. Develop one or two reasons further and add a specific example to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present reasons, and a conclusion restates your position. Linking expressions such as “For instance,” “Furthermore,” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes loose. The first body paragraph moves from your personal illness to vulnerable groups without fully explaining the connection, while the second combines household chores and religious practice with limited transitions. Some connections are also repetitive, particularly the repeated emphasis on water being essential. Use clearer topic sentences and explain how each example supports the claim that water should be free, not only available.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including topic-related terms such as “personal hygiene,” “ablution,” and “purifying yourself.” These choices show some awareness of the subject’s specific vocabulary. However, the range is limited and several phrases are awkward or imprecise, such as “free of cost,” “sensitive to disease,” and “arrange clean water from somewhere.” Spelling and word-form errors, including “thats,” “house hold,” and “New born,” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural collocations and check compound words and apostrophes. More precise wording would help distinguish the right to clean water from the separate question of whether household use should be free.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a conditional-style example beginning “whether its personal hygiene” and a longer sentence about waiting for clean water. The main meaning is generally understandable, but errors occur across sentence forms and reduce control. Examples include “its is directly linked,” “water usually is dirty,” and “every house should have access … as it directly impact,” where verb forms or agreement are inaccurate. There are also problems with sentence boundaries and punctuation, such as the comma after “For instance” followed by a line break, and the run-on construction “New born babies or old aged people are more sensitive to disease, so thats why…”. Practise accurate agreement and build complex sentences with clear clause boundaries.

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.