Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-09

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)

In several countries in the world, having a home of one's own weighs alot rather than have a rented one because of the economic benefits association with owning a house. In my opinion, it is a positive situation to foster the sense of independence and confidence.

Having a roof above the head is the basic necessity to safely survive in a country. For this purpose, multiple initiatives took place with the ideas of renting and buying homes. Renting a house is often considered expensive compared to buying one because it can reduce the burden of saving money monthly to pay rents and bills. Furthermore, it also reduces the economical pressure of depositing extra health insurances and security fees from a family. For example; in several countries like Portugal, it is the legal requirement for tenders to pay extra charges for health insurance and security fees annually which is considered nothing more than another economical stress for a family who is already struggling to make both ends meet.

Owning a house can be influential in terms of marital life. For example; in some countries like South Korea, a person must need to have a house of his own to marry a girl, which is something very important to secure the future of upcoming generations. Therefore, it improves the confidence and gives a feeling of independent and completely free.

At the end, it is now evident from all the ideas and examples mentioned above that how much owning a home contributes towards personal growth and stress relief.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the question: you suggest economic and social reasons for prioritising home ownership, and clearly state that you see it as positive because it can foster independence and confidence. The examples about Portugal and South Korea help make these points relevant. However, the economic explanation is not always clear: the claim that renting is more expensive than buying is followed by a point about reducing monthly saving, which does not fully explain the comparison. The discussion of marriage and future generations is also asserted rather than developed, and the conclusion mainly repeats the benefits. Explain the reasons more precisely and support each with a clearer chain of reasoning to make the response more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a concluding statement. The paragraphs broadly separate economic reasons from social benefits, and signposts such as “Furthermore” and “Therefore” help show relationships between ideas. However, progression within the first body paragraph is not consistently clear: the discussion moves from rent and saving to insurance and security fees without explaining how these costs relate to owning rather than renting. Some linking phrases feel mechanical, and “At the end” is not a natural way to introduce a conclusion. Use clearer topic sentences and make the connection between each example and the main point explicit; this would make the overall organisation more coherent and cohesion less noticeable.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “economic benefits,” “security fees,” “marital life,” and “personal growth.” These choices show an attempt to express ideas beyond basic vocabulary. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “weighs alot,” “economical pressure,” “a feeling of independent,” and “completely free.” “Tenders” also appears unsuitable for the intended meaning, and “health insurances” is awkward in this context. These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main message, but they reduce precision and naturalness. Focus on common collocations and check word forms; for example, use “financial pressure” and “a sense of independence.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “because,” “which,” and “who,” and the main ideas are generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in verb patterns, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “rather than have a rented one” needs a parallel form such as “rather than having a rented one,” while “a person must need to have” combines two incompatible modal expressions. In “it is now evident … that how much owning a home contributes,” the clause structure is faulty; use either “it is evident that owning a home contributes” or “it is clear how much…” Review these patterns and punctuation around examples to improve accuracy while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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.