Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-29

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 some countries, people prefer to rent homes rather than owning a home. There could be various reasons like, frequent traveling, temporary jobs, better opportunity etc. From my perspective, this is a positive situation as it helps people for better life.

One of the primary situation is that temporary job holders need to travel frequently from cities to cities. It does make sense for them to rent a home rather than buying one. This one decision drastically reduce the cost of a shelter. Also those who are migrating from rural areas to urban areas or from one country to another due to education purposes, they can rent homes for short terms. As the idea is they will be going back to their homes after their study finishes.

In some disaster prone countries for instance, Japan, where earthquake frequently occurs, people prefer to rent homes. Sometimes, the cost of repairing a house is more expensive than renting one. Hence, the middle class Japanese families rent 2-3 bedrooms apartment for a very cheap price. Similarly in coastal cities, people don't buy homes as frequent floods can easily damage their property.

In conclusion, people those who want to live a free life, tends to rent apartments rather owning one. In this way, they can avoid maintenance or repairing costs. Additionally, people can easily relocate to another home or apartment in very short notice if any negative situation occurs. Depending on the situation, renting a home gives flexibility to its user and doesn't tie them one one place.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for renting and an opinion on whether this is positive or negative. However, the development is somewhat inconsistent. While the reasons (job mobility, disaster-prone areas) are relevant, the explanation of why this is a 'positive' situation is underdeveloped. The essay focuses more on the practical benefits of renting rather than arguing why the trend itself is positive for society or the individual. To reach a higher band, you should provide more depth in your reasoning and ensure your position is clearly maintained throughout the entire essay, rather than just in the introduction.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. There is a basic attempt at using cohesive devices (e.g., 'In conclusion', 'Similarly', 'Additionally'). However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and some transitions are slightly awkward, such as 'One of the primary situation is that...'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the progression of ideas could be smoother. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each sentence logically follows the previous one to create a more cohesive argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the message to be conveyed clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'disaster-prone', 'relocate', and 'maintenance costs'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'cost of a shelter' instead of 'housing costs' or 'very cheap price' which is slightly informal. There is also a minor error in word form: 'tends to rent' should be 'tend to rent'. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'from cities to cities' (should be 'from city to city'), 'due to education purposes' (should be 'for educational purposes'), and 'tie them one one place' (should be 'tie them to one place'). Subject-verb agreement is also inconsistent in places. These errors do not impede communication, but they do indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of complex sentence construction to reach the 7.0 band.

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

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