Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-18

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many places, new homes are needed, but the only space available for building them is in the countryside. Some people believe it is more important to protect the countryside and not build new homes there.

What is your opinion about this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In this modern era, the requirement for the new homes are plunging and to meet the necessity for new homes only the village areas are available. While there are just few notions about protecting the countryside and not building new homes there, I would suggest we should sustain our countryside.

First and foremost, constructing new homes in villages would reduce the area for farms and cattles. It takes a vital space to breed the animals including cows and horses. Furthermore, having less plots for farming would eventually results in less production of food which will not even meet the necessity of eatables in big cities.

Rather we can substitute the idea of placing new homes in villages to sustaining the old homes in cities. For example, we can reconstruct the previous homes in the same places or we can renovate those houses according to the modern architecture. There are various techniques available to maintain the old houses without any higher costs.

In my opinion, building the newhouses will only disturb the cattles life

and will take up spaces for forms in village. we should rather, should persue with the moderon technology and architecture in cities without making any enviromental damages in villages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the prompt regarding whether to build new homes in the countryside or protect it, presenting a clear position that the countryside should be sustained. However, the task achievement is significantly undermined by the severe word count deficit. At only 202 words, the essay falls well short of the mandatory 250-word minimum, which heavily restricts the development of ideas. While the writer touches on relevant arguments such as the reduction of farmland and the alternative of urban regeneration, these points remain underdeveloped and lack sufficient expansion and specific supporting examples. Consequently, the response achieves a Band 5.0 for this criterion due to the under-length penalty and limited development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a clear overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing specific arguments, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct ideas, such as the impact on farming and the alternative solution of renovating old city homes. Cohesive devices are employed, including transition markers like 'First and foremost', 'Furthermore', and 'Rather'. However, referencing and logical progression are occasionally faulty, and some links feel mechanical. For instance, the transition into the concluding paragraph repeats earlier sentiments rather than synthesizing them smoothly. Overall, the arrangement of ideas is sufficiently coherent to meet the requirements of Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student displays an adequate vocabulary range to communicate basic ideas about housing and land use, using terms such as 'architecture', 'renovate', and 'reconstruct'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text. For example, the writer uses 'plunging' instead of 'surging' or 'increasing' when referring to housing demand, and refers to 'cattles' (an incorrect plural form) and 'forms' instead of 'farms'. There are also awkward phrasings like 'eatables' and 'disturb the cattles life'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips limit the precision of the writing, placing the response firmly at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and participial clauses such as 'While there are just few notions...'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'the requirement for the new homes are', awkward phrasing such as 'results in less production', and missing articles or incorrect pluralizations like 'environmental damages'. Punctuation in the final paragraph is also flawed with missing capitalization and spacing issues. Because these errors occur frequently alongside a limited range of controlled complex structures, the writing corresponds to a Band 5.0.

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

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