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)

* Writing Task - (2)

Debate on owning or renting a house is one of the trending issue on limelight. In some countries, people have a tendency to own a house rather them renting it. But renting gives more hope to a person them purchasing a house does. One should better rent a house insteading of buying.

To my understanding, renting a house instead of buying it can be a very crucial financial step one can take in his/her life. Renting allows a person to access an accomodation without taking any financial burden because buying a house requires a lot of capital involved which takes a longer time to earn for a person. Nowadays, modern generation prefers to rent a house instead of purchasing it because people dont want to invest a large chunk of money on home.

This can be observed mostly in countries which are developed but have comparatively smaller area for construction of new houses. Even the government of these countries like Austrian government encourages people to rent a house rather than purchasing because they dont have enough land area to build new residential localities. So for them renting seems to be more practical than buying a house.

On the otherhand, purchasing a house rather than just renting it can be consider as a better financial move sometimes. Usually people always prefer to own a house because owning it can give a extreme freedom them any other thing. Also in earlier times, owning a house was considered to be a very big achievement in ones life and people who own a house are considered to be more successful than a person who rents a house. This mentality consequences to make a person feel more proud on owning a house. In some countries like India where there is a huge difference in rich and poor population, a evolution of a believe occurs where more people tends to buy a house than renting it because renting a house cant give people a premium status that owning a house does. Most of the people take financial aids like home loans and even personal loans just to buy a house and fulfill the achievement.

But as buying a house is getting more impractical nowadays because of the inflation, people are shifting more on renting. Renting a house can be consider to be very beneficial as one can rent a home on a fraction of money. In addition, people with jobs with frequent transfers and rellocations prefers renting a house because buying a house makes it very impractical for these.

Thus, for some people buying a house is very important than renting it. However, renting turned to be more practical and suitable for the new generation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: explaining why home ownership is important and discussing whether this is a positive or negative situation. However, the position is somewhat inconsistent. The introduction suggests renting is better, but the body paragraphs oscillate between the benefits of renting and the cultural/financial pressures to buy. While the ideas are relevant, the development is occasionally repetitive, particularly regarding the financial burden of buying. To reach a higher band, ensure a clear, consistent stance is maintained throughout the essay and provide more nuanced support for the 'positive or negative' aspect of the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the other hand' and 'In addition,' though some transitions feel mechanical or slightly forced. There are instances where the logical flow is disrupted by awkward phrasing, such as 'This mentality consequences to make a person feel more proud.' Referencing is generally clear, but the progression of ideas could be smoother. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph builds logically upon the previous one would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and sophistication. There are several instances of awkward word choices and collocation errors, such as 'trending issue on limelight,' 'access an accomodation,' and 'a evolution of a believe occurs.' While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'capital,' 'residential localities,' 'inflation'), the errors in word formation and usage are noticeable. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and ensuring that words are used in their correct grammatical form (e.g., 'belief' instead of 'believe').

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('people tends to buy'), incorrect verb forms ('can be consider'), and missing articles. Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence construction is often clunky. While the meaning is usually clear, the frequency of errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on proofreading for basic errors like verb tense consistency and article usage would significantly improve the accuracy of the writing.

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