Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-04

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 6.5)

In many parts of the society people give greater importance to owning a home rather than living in a rented accomodation. There can be several reasons attributing this choce like financial security and social expectation. In my view, although home ownership can ensure long-term stability and security it should not be at the cost of present day financial contraints and added pressure.

there are several reasons why people prefers buying a home instead of renting. Firstly, buying a home is considered a safe long-term investment. Unlike renting, where mortage payment does not result in any secure asset like a home which provides security, especially after retirement when income is reduced. Moreover, owning a house provides a higher social status and shows fiancial stability in many places which is another major reason for buying a home for which people save for years.

However, this preferance has negative consequences. High property costs may force people to take large mortgage which can result in financial stress. People have to spend a large portion of the income in repaying the loans which makes them compromise in present on important factors like education, travel or other necessities.Furthermore, it can make individuals less like to relocate to other cities for better employment opportunities as selling or renting out to others can be challenging.

In my view, both owning a house or renting are viable options as long as it is a stable and secure option and does not limit a person's opportunities or cause financial stresss.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by exploring the reasons why home ownership is important, such as financial security and social status, and offering an opinion on whether this situation is positive or negative. The position is clear throughout the essay. However, certain ideas are somewhat under-developed, which keeps the response at the current level. For example, the point about social status and financial stability in the second paragraph is introduced but not fully extended with specific examples or deep explanation. Similarly, the discussion on how mortgages impact daily necessities could be elaborated further to fully satisfy the requirements of higher bands. Nevertheless, the main parts of the prompt are covered sufficiently with relevant ideas, ensuring a balanced approach to the dual-question prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from the introduction through the body paragraphs to the conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct theme such as reasons for buying, negative consequences, and the final view. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, seen in transitions like 'Moreover', 'However', and 'Furthermore'. However, cohesion can sometimes feel a bit mechanical or faulty. For instance, referencing and transitions within sentences could be smoother, and there are occasional awkward shifts in logical links. To move to a higher band, the use of cohesive devices needs to be more flexible and unobtrusive, ensuring that the relationships between ideas flow naturally without any mechanical feel.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common lexical items such as 'financial security', 'long-term investment', and 'employment opportunities'. However, there are some errors in word choice, spelling, and word form that reflect the current band level. For instance, 'accomodation' contains a spelling error, 'choce' is misspelled, 'fiancial' is incorrect, and phrases like 'making them compromise in present' or 'less like to relocate' show inaccuracies in collocation and word form. These lexical errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the essay from achieving a higher score. To improve, the writer should focus on precision in word choice, accurate spelling, and natural collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as subordinate clauses and relative clauses effectively in parts. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, but they rarely impede communication. Examples of grammatical lapses include missing capitalization at the start of the second paragraph ('there are several reasons...'), article errors like 'a large portion of the income', and minor preposition or agreement slips such as 'mortage payment does not result' or 'financial stresss'. The punctuation is generally adequate, but occasional slips persist. To reach the next band, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free sentences and demonstrate tighter control over complex grammatical structures and article usage.

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

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