Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-10
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, the majority of people tend to own housing rather than rent it because of various reasons like emotional attachment. customization, freedom, etc. In spite of its various advantages, I think it creates a lot of negative consequences.
People spend their lifetime savings to build housing so that they can live peacefully. Although it gives satisfaction to some extent, it is just a waste of money. Owning a house is expensive compared to renting. So the money that can be invested in productive areas is wasted in housing. This negative trend will ultimately lead to a financial crisis. There is also a chance of various natural disasters that can damage our home, but if this occurs in a rented home, the landlord will ultimately pay for it. Similarly, customized houses need a lot of spaces for various infrastructure like swimming pool, gym . For instance, building a gym need spaces a lot , but many peole can use single gym in apartments.
On the other hand, renting offers a variety of facilities. There is no need for worries about the maintenance of the house. The owner will provide everything that is needed for the house, which saves our time that can be used in other productive areas. What I love most about renting a home is that it is a cheaper option and can be selected in any part of the city after some time if you do not love the location.
In conclusion, while owning a house may offer emotional attachment and customization, it will increase financial burden. So owning a house rather than renting it is a negative situation.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for home ownership and the writer's opinion on whether this is positive or negative. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument that owning a home is a 'waste of money' compared to renting is a strong claim that lacks nuance or counter-consideration regarding long-term asset building or equity. The discussion on natural disasters and maintenance is relevant but could be expanded with more sophisticated reasoning. The position is clear throughout, but the supporting arguments would benefit from greater depth and more specific examples to reach a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In spite of', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. For example, the transition from discussing financial crises to natural disasters in the second paragraph is abrupt. Referencing is generally clear, but the use of punctuation and sentence structure occasionally hinders the logical progression of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for higher bands. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'house', 'home', and 'money'. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'customization', 'infrastructure', 'maintenance'), there are instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'building a gym need spaces a lot'. The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but more sophisticated collocations and a wider variety of synonyms would improve the lexical profile of the essay.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('building a gym need spaces') and article usage ('a lot of spaces'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after commas and periods. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they occur frequently enough to limit the score. To improve, the student should focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and diversifying sentence structures to include more complex, error-free clauses.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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