Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-14

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)

Purchasing houses has become a trend among individuals in some countries instead of living on rent. I agree with this because residing in one's own house offers numerous advantages in contrast to living on rent. However, there is a small demographic that still considers residing in rental places.

Owning a home gives the advantage of possessing an asset that can be passed down to generations. For instance, it is a common practice worldwide that children or even grandchildren are residing in a house that belonged to their ancestors. People who own a house or an apartment do not have to pay rent. All over the world, it is a common practice among landlords to increase rent after a few months. One can easily do modifications or get plumbing fixes at a cheaper price. While one residing in a rented space needs to take permission of landlord or ask the landlord repeatedly to get certain modifications or fix issues.

In some cases, the tenants have to pay an additional fine to the landlord and still bear the expense of getting any modification or fix done to the property.

However, there is a small demographic that may not agree with my opinion. Some people choose to live in rental spaces because they cannot afford to purchase any property. After a few years these people realise living in a rental space is extremely difficult in comparison to living in one's own home.

In conclusion, this is a positive situation that people prefer to purchase their own property because it is an asset that can be passed down from generation to generation, and the cost of rental fees are skyrocketing each year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by explaining why owning a home is important—citing generational assets, freedom from rising rents, and easier modifications—and clearly states a position that this is a positive situation. The ideas are generally relevant and extended, such as the comparison between homeowners and tenants making modifications. However, the prompt actually asked 'Why might this be the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative situation?', whereas the student slightly misinterprets the second part as 'I agree with this', which sounds like an agreement task rather than an opinion task. Despite this minor misframing, all core components of the prompt are addressed, supporting a solid Band 6.5 performance under the descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression of ideas across paragraphs. The introduction states the writer's position, body paragraphs discuss the reasons for homeownership and counterarguments respectively, and the conclusion summarises the main points. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'For instance', 'However', and 'In conclusion'. However, some logical transitions and referencing could be smoother. For instance, the sentence 'While one residing in a rented space needs to take permission of landlord' feels structurally fragmented and slightly abrupt in its connection to the previous point. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the management of cohesive ties between sentences occasionally appears a bit mechanical.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'demographic', 'modifications', and 'skyrocketing'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text. For instance, writing 'living on rent' rather than 'renting' or 'living in rented accommodation', and 'get plumbing fixes at a cheaper price' rather than 'conduct plumbing repairs economically'. Furthermore, there is some repetition of phrases like 'residing in a house' and 'rental space'. These lexical slips do not impede communication, placing the response comfortably within the Band 6 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings. For example, 'While one residing in a rented space needs to take permission of landlord' lacks an article before 'landlord' and suffers from a dangling subject. Another error is found in 'the cost of rental fees are skyrocketing', where the plural verb 'are' does not correctly agree with the singular head noun 'cost' (or alternatively, 'rental costs' should be used). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede the overall flow of communication.

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.