Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-08
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
In some countries owning a home rather than renting one is very important for people. Why might this be the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?
Student answer (Band 5.5)
In many countries, ownership of home is necessary instead of renting it. This is primarily because of stability in life and increasing renting costs. This essay will discuss how this is a positive situation before coming to the conclusion.
Majority of people want to get a house of their own due to the fact that, the amount of rent paid is increasing day by day. Instead of paying rent for long period of time such as more than 10 years, a small house can be bought by adding that amount of money. Moreover, living in a rented house does not provide stability of life, because of the constant fear that anything can happen such as owner asking you leave their house for their personal reasons. For example, in underdeveloped countries owners kick out the tenants if they do not pay the rent for few months.
Having an ownership of the house is a positive change towards a successful life, as it gives people a sense of stability in terms of both mental and financial. They do not need to be worried about paying any rent or getting kicked out. Another factor of being stable in your life is getting married, for which owning a house is vital for the future of your family, so they can live in tranquillity. For instance, in Pakistan, in order to get married, it is mandatory to have a house of your own.
To conclude, in order to have a satisfactory and stable life, having ownership of a house is essential. This not only gives a safe future to your family but also saves huge amount of money paid in the form of rent every month.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for the importance of home ownership and the writer's opinion on whether this is positive or negative. The ideas are relevant, particularly the focus on financial stability and the cultural pressure to own property. However, the development is somewhat limited. The argument regarding marriage in the third paragraph is a bit narrow and could have been expanded to discuss broader societal impacts. While the position is clear throughout, the essay would benefit from more depth in the analysis of why this trend might be considered a negative situation, as the prompt asks for a balanced view or a clear justification of the stance.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There is a progression of ideas from the financial benefits to the emotional and social aspects of home ownership. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'For example', and 'To conclude' are used to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the internal flow within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of cohesive markers to connect sentences more fluidly rather than relying on simple additive connectors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to convey their meaning clearly. There are some attempts at using topic-specific vocabulary such as 'tenants', 'tranquillity', and 'mandatory'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'ownership of home is necessary instead of renting it' and 'getting kicked out'. To reach a higher band, the writer should aim for more precise collocations and a more sophisticated range of academic vocabulary to replace simpler terms like 'get a house' or 'small house'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that persist throughout the text. For instance, 'ownership of home' should be 'home ownership' or 'the ownership of a home'. There are also issues with articles ('the amount of rent', 'a long period of time') and prepositions. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the essay from reaching a higher band. The writer should focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles to improve accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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