Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-25

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 some countries buying a house has a very significance as compared to renting one because owning a home gives them feel of security and safety. In my opinion rentine a resedential property is better because they are quite expensive and the money to buy a house can be use as an investment or starting a business.

Majority of the community of any country want to stay in their own property, so that they do not have to worry about the monthly rent or house hold expenses. Owning a house give them safety and financial stability. For instance, most of the people when they are retiring and they receive gratuity they will start to think about buying a house or taking a loan from the bank to purchase one.

In my opinion purchasing a house is not the best approach because they are way to pricey, if someone is buying the house in they have to pay a handome amount to own a small home or an apartment or if they take a loan from the bank to buy it, they still has to pay morgage to the bank instead they should invest this amount in some stocks or start a business and they can manage their rent from the profits from stocks or earnings from their business. For example, a person starts a grocery store and after a small period of time he/she should have earn enough to pay for rent or to run their household.

In Conclusion, owning a home gives a feeling of stability and safety however, renting one has more benefits.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the question: it explains that home ownership is associated with security and financial stability, and it clearly argues that renting is preferable because buying is expensive and money could be invested elsewhere. The examples about retirees and a grocery business are relevant, but the reasoning is not equally developed. In particular, the claim that investment profits could cover rent is asserted rather than explained, and the discussion of why ownership matters to people could explore social or cultural reasons beyond avoiding rent. The conclusion restates the contrast but does not add much to the argument. Develop each main point with clearer explanation and support so the position is more fully established.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the explanation and opinion, and a conclusion. The overall progression from reasons for ownership to the case for renting is understandable. However, connections between ideas are sometimes awkward or mechanical. The long sentence beginning “In my opinion purchasing a house” combines several points, making the comparison between a mortgage and investment difficult to follow. “For instance” and “For example” introduce relevant illustrations, but the links between those examples and the claims could be made more explicit. The conclusion’s “however” also needs clearer punctuation and separation. Use shorter, more focused sentences and clearer transitions to improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses vocabulary relevant to housing and finance, including “financial stability,” “loan,” “mortgage,” “investment,” and “profits.” This is enough to communicate the main ideas, but range and precision are uneven, and several spelling or word-choice errors distract the reader. Examples include “rentine,” “resedential,” “handome,” and “morgage”; “house hold expenses” is also an unnatural form. Some phrases are imprecise, such as “has a very significance” and “a small period of time.” Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations for housing and financial decisions. More precise wording would make the argument sound clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts at complex sentences, including the conditional structure “if they take a loan from the bank to buy it,” and the response uses both simple and longer sentence forms. However, errors in agreement, articles, verb forms, and sentence construction occur across the essay and sometimes make the reader pause. For example, “Owning a house give them” needs subject–verb agreement, while “they still has to pay” has a mismatch between subject and verb. In “the money to buy a house can be use,” the passive verb form is incorrect. The long sentence in the third paragraph also needs clearer clause boundaries. Practise accurate verb forms and agreement, and divide complex ideas into controlled sentences.

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

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