Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-06

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 5.0)

For some counties owning a house might be more preferable then renting once because ownership of a home gives more comfort to those people rather the renting one. But this point may vary from country to country and it has its own pros and cons. My views are discussed further.

To start with, owning a house beings a type of joy to people like achievement of accomplishing something in life. A sense of ownership and where they can live freely without a burden of paying rent at end of the month. Owning a house brings comfort and a freedom to live. People living in their own house can do anything they want in their house without asking a permission to do anything. But it may vary depending where you live and specially in which country you live.

Suppose you are migrant who have moved from one city to another and decide to live there, it might cost you a fortune to buy a house in that country. Because the tax system also the cost of house depending on that city you live might increase. Renting a house would be better option in this type of situations simply because you do not have to worry about tax or maintenance of the house.

To conclude, owning or renting a house depends on the situation you are. If you can purchase a house then you should probably do it, if you can not then there is no better option then renting one out.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing why people prefer owning a home and touches briefly upon the advantages and disadvantages. However, the position is not always clear throughout the essay, and the ideas presented are quite limited and under-developed. For instance, the second paragraph mentions freedom and comfort, but these points are supported with repetitive phrasing rather than fully expanded arguments. Similarly, the discussion of migrants and taxation in the third paragraph is rather brief and lacks concrete elaboration. To reach a higher level, all parts of the prompt need to be more thoroughly explored with well-supported, extended ideas rather than generalized statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is a basic logical organization to the essay, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing ownership and renting, and concluding with a summary. However, there is no clear overall progression of ideas, and the links between paragraphs feel somewhat disjointed. Cohesive devices are used, but they tend to be repetitive or somewhat mechanical, such as starting multiple paragraphs with similar transitional phrases like 'To start with' and 'To conclude'. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrase 'this point may vary', where the exact antecedent is vague. Better paragraph internal cohesion and varied signposting language would help improve the overall flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts to use some less common vocabulary, such as 'accomplishing', 'migrant', and 'maintenance', but these attempts are often accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, collocation, and phrasing, such as 'owning a house beings a type of joy' or 'asking a permission'. There are also repetitive lexical choices, with terms like 'house', 'renting', and 'country' appearing frequently in close proximity. While the meaning can generally be understood, these inaccuracies and the restricted vocabulary range prevent the response from achieving a higher level of lexical precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences and basic complex forms that frequently contain errors. There are numerous mistakes involving articles, prepositions, and grammatical patterns, such as 'more preferable then renting once', 'without a burden of paying rent at end of the month', and 'depending where you live'. Attempts at forming more complex sentences often result in faulty structures and run-on phrasing, such as 'Because the tax system also the cost of house depending on that city you live might increase.' These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and demonstrate a lack of firm control over basic grammar.

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

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