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)

Its been seen in a few countries that people tend to buy a house of their own as compared to live in a renting house. I am strongly inclined towards people buying a home of their own instead of living in a rented house all their lives.

The reason why i think it is a positive thing for one to buy a house of their own is because when people spend thousands of dollars on rent they are not able to meet their ends whereas, people who have a property of their own tend to easily pay their bills and can do grocery freely without having to worry about it. Its been proved from various surveys that people who have a house of thier own their children donot have to worry if they pass away whereas, people who don't own a property of their own, after their demise, their children are being kicked out if they don't pay the rent on time.

While some people do agree to have a house of their own there are some people who don't. The reason behind their decision is that they have a lot of money to spare on rent and they can easily afford to payoff bills with ease. I read a book named "The road to Mecca" by Muhammad Asad, at one occasion he asks a shepherd why he doesn't have a house of his own? to which he replied "if water stays at one place, it becomes stale". And to be honest, he does have a point but it differs from circumstances to circumstances.

In conclusion, it is indeed a relaxing feeling to have one's own house where there's no tension of going through the thought of paying rent every month.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt by explaining why home ownership is important and discussing whether this is a positive or negative situation. A clear position is established early on in the essay: 'I am strongly inclined towards people buying a home of their own instead of living in a rented house all their lives.' Main ideas are presented, such as financial relief and security for children, but these are somewhat under-developed and rely on general assertions rather than robust supporting examples. For instance, the claim that children are 'kicked out' if rent is unpaid lacks nuanced argumentation. While the alternative viewpoint is briefly acknowledged, it is not fully explored or integrated into a balanced discussion. Consequently, the task response demonstrates a clear position and relevant ideas, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. However, the logical progression is occasionally hindered by abrupt transitions between paragraphs and ideas. Paragraphing is attempted, but the second body paragraph mixes the counter-argument with a literary anecdote in a somewhat disjointed manner ('I read a book named...'). Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes repetitive or mechanically applied, such as 'The reason why i think' and 'While some people do agree'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, as seen in the convoluted sentence structure regarding surveys and children. Overall, the organizational framework is adequate for the task, but lacks the flexibility and smooth logical flow required for higher bands, placing it firmly at a Band 6 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the writer's basic points regarding renting versus owning property. However, the range is limited, and there is a reliance on simple, repetitive phrasing like 'house of their own' and 'renting house'. There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'meet their ends' (instead of make ends meet), 'do grocery freely' (instead of buy groceries), and 'payoff bills'. While the writer attempts some less common phrasing, these inaccuracies prevent communication from being fully smooth. Spelling errors, such as 'thier' and lowercase pronouns ('i'), further restrict the lexical score. This performance meets the criteria for Band 5.5, showing a minimally adequate range with persistent errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues disrupt readability. There are notable punctuation and capitalization errors throughout the text, such as starting sentences with lowercase letters ('Its been seen') and missing apostrophes in contractions. Additionally, awkward syntactic structures appear frequently, such as 'people who have a house of thier own their children donot have to worry'. Subject-verb agreement and prepositional use also show frequent flaws, such as 'differs from circumstances to circumstances'. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, their high frequency across a limited range of structures keeps the grammatical score at a Band 5.0.

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

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