Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-22
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 recent years, the world's population has grown, increasing the need for living space. So, some people want new homes due to population growth, whereas on the other hand, individuals argue that they need to save the countryside by not developing new houses. In my opinion is that we have to develop the countryside by building new accommodation, while exercising some caution toward development.
To begin with, some paramount reasons for the growing population in the world. For that, we have to build some accommodation to live in, because rural areas are now full of people and have already been developed and crowded with a lot of buildings and apartments. So, to expand toward a good standard of living for society, we have to work on the urban area to develop some accommodation for upcoming generations.
Furthermore, with this development, we have to consider that the natural wildlife area should be protected by providing some part of the area to be reserved for nature activities. For instance, that is wild life protect area like zoos, sanctuaries, and an eco-friendly environment for other living beings.
To conclude, we have to develop some part of the countryside to build new apartments and buildings to raise the standard of living for individuals, but we have to take care of the urban areas so that living beings have a safe environment.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by expressing an opinion on whether to build new homes in the countryside, arguing that development should proceed with caution to protect nature. However, the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, containing only 227 words. This under-length impacts the full development of ideas, leaving certain points, such as the discussion on urban areas and wildlife protection, somewhat limited and underdeveloped. While a clear position is established in the introduction and maintained throughout, the brevity restricts the depth of support required for higher band levels.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response exhibits a basic overarching structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is attempted, though some paragraphs are brief. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'To begin with', 'Furthermore', and 'To conclude'. However, referencing and logical flow are occasionally faulty, as seen in confusing transitions like 'For that, we have to build some accommodation' and mixed references between urban and rural areas. Overall arrangement provides a coherent flow, but cohesion can be mechanical and unclear at times.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts to incorporate less common items and topic-related vocabulary such as 'accommodation', 'eco-friendly environment', and 'sanctuaries'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as stating 'we have to work on the urban area to develop some accommodation' when discussing the countryside, and 'wild life protect area'. These lexical errors and awkward phrasings demonstrate a limited range that occasionally causes confusion for the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing introductory clauses and subordinate structures. However, grammatical errors are frequent, particularly with preposition use, subject-verb agreement, and awkward phrasing, such as 'In my opinion is that we have to develop' and 'that is wild life protect area'. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they persist across the text and prevent the sentence structures from achieving consistent accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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