Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-22

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)

Buying their own property has become a pressing issue globally, , renting is reducing day by day. This phenomenon is primarily driven by rising living standards and consumer behavior, but it can be mitigated through targeted solutions at individual and systematic levels which will be elaborated in the subsequent paragraphs.

One of the major issues is that people need to move from one place to another while renting. In many countries, having one's own house is a symbol of rising social status. In metropolitan cities, people prefer convenience over hard work. The behaviour stems from a lack of appreciation has been reduced in individual. For example, banks help people to buy their first home with 5 percent deposit and provide extra rebate for "first home buyers" to encourage them to buy their own house. Moving further, in modern era peer pressure has contributed significantly as show off.

Addressing these issues has multifaceted approach. Government should spearhead public awareness campaigns to educate their citizens regarding finance and budgeting. Campaigns like "reduce interest rates" show promise in encouraging people to adopt mindful habits. Schools should establish programs to teach how to save from your income will help students to learn financing at early age. Business also has critical role to play. For instance, in western world, couple spend their whole life to pay large amount of interest to banks and then family dispute will end up in selling property on loss.

To conclude, buying house has arisen as a liability and living standard of people. These issues can be addressed at individual, and societal level. By taking collective actions, people can learn calculations and budgeting which will help to have a sustainable future.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt but lacks a clear, consistent position. While you identify reasons for home ownership, the second part of the prompt—whether this is positive or negative—is not explicitly answered. The introduction mentions 'solutions' to mitigate the issue, which is irrelevant to the prompt's focus on the nature of home ownership. Ideas are often under-developed; for instance, the mention of 'peer pressure' and 'show off' is not clearly linked to the broader argument. To improve, ensure you directly answer both parts of the question in the introduction and maintain that stance throughout the essay, providing clear, logical support for each point.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. Transitions between ideas are often abrupt or confusing, such as the sudden shift from 'convenience' to 'lack of appreciation' in the second paragraph. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes mechanical or misused, such as 'Moving further' and 'Addressing these issues has multifaceted approach' (which lacks an article). The conclusion introduces new, slightly confusing ideas about 'calculations and budgeting' that were not fully explored in the body paragraphs. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring each paragraph has a clear, singular focus would enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several instances of awkward phrasing and word choice, such as 'renting is reducing day by day' and 'family dispute will end up in selling property on loss'. Some terms are used incorrectly, such as 'rebate' in the context of a mortgage deposit. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more precise collocations and academic vocabulary. Avoid repetitive phrasing and focus on using words that accurately convey your intended meaning in a formal context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Issues include missing articles ('in modern era', 'in western world'), subject-verb agreement errors ('Government should spearhead... educate their citizens'), and awkward sentence construction ('The behaviour stems from a lack of appreciation has been reduced in individual'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary commas and missing articles. To improve, focus on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common errors like article usage and pluralisation to ensure your complex sentences are grammatically sound.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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