Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-03

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)

The population of the world is increasing day by day, and people prefer to live in cities due to the presence of facilities in a convenient way. Increasing urban population creates issues of houses in the cities. In many countries, individuals prefer to buy a house rather than live the whole time on rent to feel secure and escape from monthly rent.

Firstly, people prefer to buy their own home in the city because they need ease and peace in their lives. In their own house, no one is worried about monthly rent and wants to invest the money in a different sector to increase the wealth. Moreover, there is privacy in your own home, and no one can interfere in your home matter. If a person lives in a rented house, then the owner has access to every corner of the home, and in case of any issue in the rented house, there is another burden on individuals who live in the rented house. Furthermore, an owner's home person feels secure in case of any issue because nobody can give notice to evacuate the home in a short time.

In addition, owning a home by any individual is a positive situation because it gives a vibe of financial as well as land safety to the owner. On the other end, if a person lives on rent, then it means he feels insecure about the home in which he lives. If people own homes, then it also enhances the tax collection of a government. In the case of Japan, most people have their own home, and they pay the home tax to the government.

In conclusion, according to my perspective, owning a home is better to feel secure about land and finance as well as take part in the enhancement of tax collection, which is beneficial for the government.

AI examiner evaluation

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, such as financial security, privacy, and tax benefits. However, the development is somewhat basic. For instance, the point about tax collection in Japan is mentioned but not fully explored in terms of its broader societal impact. To reach a higher band, you should aim to expand on your arguments with more detailed explanations or specific examples that demonstrate a deeper analysis of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. You use some cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'Moreover', 'In addition', and 'In conclusion' to link your thoughts. However, some transitions feel a bit mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive (e.g., 'the rented house' is repeated several times in the second paragraph). Improving the variety of your linking words and using more sophisticated referencing would enhance the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have an adequate range of vocabulary to communicate your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'evacuate', 'financial security', and 'tax collection'. However, there are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'owner's home person' and 'home matter', which sound unnatural. To improve, focus on learning common collocations related to housing and finance. While your vocabulary is sufficient for the task, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Expanding your range of synonyms will help you avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'owning a home by any individual' (awkward phrasing), 'no one is worried' (tense/modal usage), and 'in the case of Japan' (slightly unnatural). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but there are minor errors in article usage and sentence construction throughout. To achieve a higher score, focus on reducing these small errors and incorporating a wider variety of complex sentence structures with greater accuracy.

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

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