Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-16

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)

For many residents, owning a home is more essential than to rent a home. Although owning a place to stay provides the feeling of security to the people, I firmly believe that renting a palce is far better due to its cost effectiveness. Meanwhile, living in a personal home provide a feeling a prosperity to residents, I believe that this is a negative situation.

On the one hand, owning a home is a sign of prosperity and profound wealth in many cultures. For instance, people who own a home are respected in a Nepalese society among the others. There are several reasons for a person to buy a home, includingn cultural and traditional values, frequent pressure from the family and relative. Consequently, a person to buy a house in loans and EMIs He becomes responsible to pay for the security and pleasure in having a home and can have a bad impact on behaviour and working life. Furthermore, there aslo might be a compromise in fulfilling the basic needs.

On the other hand, renting a home is a safer option. People do not have to maintain everything in a rented place; for example a water leakage in a rented home needs the duty of landlord to solve the problem and keep everything operating.

In conclusion, it is a relevant for people to own a home and to be secured. However with the plethora of responsibilites to attend to, a cheap rented palce would be a better alternative until there is enough sum accumulated to own a home.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the prompt: you explain that home ownership can represent prosperity and reflect cultural or family expectations, and you state that you consider the preference negative because renting is more cost-effective and involves fewer responsibilities. The Nepalese example makes the cultural point relevant, while the discussion of loans and basic needs begins to explain the drawbacks. However, some ideas are not fully developed: the pressure from relatives is mentioned but not illustrated, and the single example about a landlord handling a leak does not fully establish why renting is safer or better. Clarify the distinction between why ownership matters to people and why you judge that preference negatively, then support each point with a fuller explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure, with an introduction, contrasting body paragraphs and a conclusion. The use of “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “In conclusion” helps signal the stages of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow. In the first body paragraph, the move from cultural respect to family pressure and then to loan repayments is abrupt, and the sentence beginning “Consequently” is hard to connect to the preceding point. The introduction also repeats the position in slightly different terms. Group related ideas more clearly, use pronouns or linking phrases with precise references, and make each paragraph develop one main point in a logical sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “security,” “prosperity,” “cultural and traditional values,” and “basic needs.” These choices show an attempt to discuss social attitudes and financial consequences rather than relying only on simple terms. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “a feeling a prosperity,” “a person to buy a home in loans,” and “a cheap rented place.” There are also spelling errors, including “palce,” “aslo,” and “responsibilites,” which reduce the accuracy of the writing. Aim for more natural combinations such as “take out a loan,” “meet basic needs,” and “affordable rental accommodation,” and proofread carefully for spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a concession with “Although” and a contrast introduced by “Meanwhile.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but some grammatical errors make parts of the argument difficult to follow. For example, “living in a personal home provide” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “Although owning a place to stay provides the feeling of security to the people” is awkwardly constructed. The sentence beginning “Consequently” lacks a clear, complete structure, and “it is a relevant for people” is also grammatically inaccurate. Practise building complete sentences around one main clause, checking agreement and articles, and using punctuation to separate connected ideas.

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.