Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-20

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)

Overpopulation is one of the biggest problems in the world and many countries are trying accomodate the population by streching cities towards countrysides. In this essay, I will discuss why this is necessary over preserving coutry sides.

To begin with, many nations are facing shortage of land areas for building residential places because of the rapid growth in population. These countries are trying to utilise village areas to provide homes and reduce housing crisis. House is considered as one of fundamental needs of human beings and it is major topic in most of all election campainges around the world. They surely recognise the down side of this but rising numbers of homeless people put severe pressure on them. Also, it divides the resources, opportunities, popultion and population which protect only one part or city being ruined in the process of development. For example, the capital of India, Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world because it provides houses, jobs and growth compared to near small towns or villages.

In contrast, many people are aginest of this trend to protect nature from civilization. They think people are causing litters every places where they live. For them, countryside is to grow crops, cattles and it should be prevented from any pollutants and people that are harmful for nature. Sometimes they even forget the fact that most of the people prefer to visit near by towns, beaches and mountains for picnic and not the cities which encourages more temporary housing like hotels that makes situation even worse sometimes. For instance, many people near living near to Toronto spend their summers in Elora and Elmira towns. These two towns are vulnarable due to number of tourists which usually bring litter with them.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that buidling houses are significant even if it costs the part of countryside as housing is the fundamental right of people and one cannot ignore that fact. It will not cause any harm until and unless people are living with nature and in nature normally without glorifing it.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall opinion: you support building homes in the countryside when housing is needed, and you acknowledge the opposing concern about protecting nature. The discussion is relevant, with examples involving Delhi and towns near Toronto. However, the reasons are not consistently developed or clearly connected to the question. For instance, the point about Delhi’s pollution does not explain how building in rural areas would distribute development or reduce that problem. The tourism example illustrates litter from visitors, but its link to whether permanent homes should be built is also unclear. To strengthen the response, explain the trade-offs directly and develop practical conditions for construction, such as limiting development or protecting farmland and wildlife.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two contrasting body paragraphs and a conclusion. Signposts such as “To begin with,” “In contrast” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the broad direction. However, progression within paragraphs is uneven: the first body paragraph moves from housing shortages to election campaigns, then to an unclear point about dividing resources and Delhi’s pollution. Some connections are difficult to follow, particularly “it divides the resources, opportunities, popultion and population.” The opposing paragraph also shifts from nature and farming to tourism without clearly linking these ideas. Organise each paragraph around one main reason, use clear references, and explain how each example supports that reason.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt topic-related vocabulary, including “rapid growth in population,” “housing crisis,” “pollutants” and “vulnerable,” and this gives the response some range. However, spelling errors and inaccurate word combinations are frequent enough to make the writing less clear, as in “accomodate,” “streching,” “countrysides,” “campainges” and “vulnarable.” Some expressions are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “protect nature from civilization,” “people are causing litters” and “near living near to Toronto.” Choose more standard collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise terms for the debate—such as “rural development,” “agricultural land” and “habitat loss”—would help express your ideas accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses beginning “because” and “which,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, attempts at longer sentences often contain grammatical problems that make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “many nations are facing shortage of land areas” needs an article and a more natural noun phrase, while “House is considered as one of fundamental needs” has article and construction errors. In “many people near living near to Toronto,” the sentence structure is faulty, and “building houses are significant” has a subject–verb agreement problem. Practise accurate articles, agreement and clause construction, and divide overloaded sentences into shorter, controlled units.

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