Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Owning a home is a significant priority for people in some countries rather than renting. There is a controversial debate among people that investing in buying a house makes one's life more convenient. However, I don't believe in this norm. Buying a house requires a huge investment that blocks your money that would otherwise have spent on some profitable business.

While decision of buying or renting a house has its own pros and cons. With the positive attributes, having own home brings satisfaction and peace in the life of an individual. It is mostly common among the people belonging to middle class. These people spend their whole life budgeting and saving money to buy their own space.

In my view point, it's a trap that blocks your huge amount and don't let you work on some business ideas that could bring more prosperity. For instance, you can explore the world with your hard earned money and become more social, go abroad for higher education, or invest in high stocks to double your money. Although having own home is quite a luxury and you don't have to worry for paying rents monthly or annually. But with modernisation, nuclear families are more popular as compared to the joint system. With few members of the family, you can easily rent 2 BHK apartment and can comfortably live there.

To conclude the discussion, negative effects overpower the positive one when we relate the impacts of buying a house instead of living in a rented home. To cope with fulfilling the needs of daily life, there's a need to shift our focus on making more money despite merely relying on owning a home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both parts of the question: you suggest that home ownership offers satisfaction and security from rent, and you clearly argue that prioritising it is negative because it ties up money that could be used elsewhere. The examples of education, travel and business investment help illustrate your position. However, the reasons why owning a home is important in some countries are only briefly explained, and the discussion of middle-class saving is not developed enough to show why this preference is especially strong. Some claims, such as renting being easy for nuclear families, also need clearer support. Develop the social or cultural reasons behind the preference and explain the consequences of your examples more fully to make the response more complete and convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, discussion of benefits, a paragraph presenting your view, and a conclusion that restates your position. The reader can generally follow the contrast between ownership and renting. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes uneven: the third paragraph moves from investment and travel to home ownership as a luxury, then to family structure and apartment size without clearly linking these points. The opening of the second paragraph, “While decision of buying or renting a house has its own pros and cons,” is an incomplete sentence, which interrupts the flow. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each example explicitly to the main argument; avoid relying on broad transitions such as “To conclude the discussion” when the relationship between ideas needs more explanation.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, including “significant priority,” “profitable business,” “prosperity,” “modernisation,” and “nuclear families.” These choices allow you to express a clear opinion and discuss financial and social considerations. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “blocks your huge amount,” but this is not a natural collocation and makes the intended meaning less precise. Other expressions, including “high stocks” and “work on some business ideas,” could be more accurately phrased. Aim to use familiar vocabulary in natural combinations and choose terms that precisely express your point, rather than adding ambitious wording where the collocation is uncertain.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “you can explore the world … or invest in high stocks” and a contrast introduced by “Although.” Meaning is usually understandable, but some errors in sentence formation and grammatical control remain. “While decision of buying or renting a house has its own pros and cons” is a fragment, and “don't let you work” does not agree with the singular subject “it.” In “money that would otherwise have spent,” the passive form is incomplete; use “would otherwise have been spent.” There are also issues with articles and sentence boundaries, as in “having own home” and the sentence beginning “Although having own home…” Practise complete clauses, agreement, and article use while retaining your attempts at complex structures.

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.