Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-12
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)
Indubitably, rents of homes and apartments are increasing rapidly because of inflation's rising. In various nations, having own home is very crucial than living in rental place. In this essay, reasons of this phenomenon will be articulated in subsequent paragraphs along with my perspective.
At the outset, there are numerous causes of this phenomenon and first end foremost is rental crisis. To describe it more, rents of apartment is getting surging very fast as compare to salary because unemployment rate is maximum over past decades in some countries such as; New Zealand. For example, 4000 NZD is salary of person living in Newzealand, calculated on basis of minimum wage, where half of salary goes in rent and bills. Moreover, land area is limited on earth and as for investment it is good idea of owning house by paying EMI at place of rents.
However, as per my perspective it is a positive situation for poor family. To be more precise, if most of households owns the house than demand of rental space will decrease which lead to minimum decreasing rents.To illustrate, as a low income family can easily manage their expenses by living in rental place as they cannot afford homes. Furthermore, in own house, family do not have any restriction related to number of person living in
and in gardening as they can independently do anything in house such as renovation and growing vegetables in own gardens.
To recapitulate, there are various reasons of owning a home rather than renting from such as, rental crisis and good investment way.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, explaining why homeownership is valued (the rental crisis, investment benefits) and giving a clear perspective on whether this is a positive or negative situation. The student discusses the financial burdens of renting and the freedom associated with owning a home. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and the argument in the third paragraph becomes slightly confused when discussing whether the situation is positive or negative, appearing to contradict itself regarding low-income families affording homes. The position is discernible throughout, but the depth of support places this performance at Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is arranged with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing an overall coherent structure. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different ideas. However, logical progression is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical cohesive devices. For example, transition phrases like 'At the outset' and 'To be more precise' are used, but referencing within sentences is sometimes unclear, such as the sudden shift in focus in the third paragraph. Cohesive devices are present but can feel somewhat repetitive and forced, corresponding to a Band 6.0 level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate ideas relating to housing and inflation. Less common lexical items are attempted, such as 'indubitably', 'phenomenon', and 'renovation', but there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'inflation's rising', 'having own home', and 'getting surging very fast'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but frequent minor errors in word formation and phrasing restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, as these slips occasionally impact precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in article usage, prepositions, and subject-verb agreement, such as 'rents of apartment is getting surging', 'at place of rents', and 'family do not have'. Complex sentence attempts are frequently marred by structural awkwardness, though meaning is rarely obscured entirely. This profile fits the Band 5.0 descriptors well.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.