Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-30

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)

It is often argued that in few countries having own home despite of renting is very essential for individuals because it reduces financial burden. This is a positive situation. This essay will discuss all the viewpoints in detail in the following paragraphs.

To begin with, having own home can develop good relation between family members. To explain, all family member will live together and spend quality time with each other in their home because in owned home people can live with whole family. For example, if a person is living in a rented house, they are bounded to live with only one or two members whereas, in own home they can live with all family members. Another positive aspect is that, in own home people have freedom. To elaborate, people can decorate or modifie their home according to their choices and they do not need to take permission for that from their landowners. For instance, on any important festival a person can repaint their home without any second thought and can rebuilt their home according to their preferences.

Furthermore, a major aspect is that having own home can give a future stability and safety. This is because, future generation do not need to buy any house because they already have their parent's owned home. So, they do not need to move in a rented house. for example, according to a survey conducted by National Sample Survey Office, in 2025, in India, on ten thousand people, it was observed that 75% of people are still living in their parent's owned homes.

In conclusion, owing own home is a very important factor for people because it give future stability and moreover it reduces financial burden as well. This trend has a positive suitation on people's lives.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for the importance of home ownership and an opinion on whether it is positive or negative. However, the development is somewhat limited. The argument regarding family relations is slightly illogical, as renting does not inherently prevent living with family. The second point about freedom is better developed. The conclusion is brief and repeats the introduction without adding depth. To reach a higher band, you should provide more nuanced arguments and ensure that your examples directly support your claims rather than relying on generalizations.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. You use cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' to signal the structure. However, some transitions are mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the link between renting and family size is not well-supported. The use of cohesive devices is generally effective, but the flow between sentences could be improved to sound more natural and less repetitive.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You use basic terms like 'good relation', 'important', and 'positive situation' repeatedly. There are some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'modifie' (spelling), 'landowners' (should be 'landlords'), and 'suitation' (spelling). To improve, you should aim to use more sophisticated vocabulary and collocations related to housing and finance, such as 'property ownership', 'financial security', or 'autonomy'. The range is sufficient to convey meaning but does not demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('having own home' instead of 'having one's own home'), prepositions ('despite of' instead of 'instead of'), and verb forms ('they are bounded' instead of 'they are bound'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some run-on sentences and missing commas. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and article usage will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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