Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Predictions Nov 2026 · 2026-11-12

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In some cities, people are knocking down historic buildings to make room for more homes.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Now a days, it has been seen that demolishing historical building to accomadate people by building new homes is becoming a routine in few cities. I disagree with the idea that historical buildings should be brought down to make new homes. Poor urban housing planning and sudden rise in the population increases the need to make room for building new houses.

Urban housing planning plays a key role in the success of any city. knocking down historical buildings which are important part of any society's culture is not a good solution to build new houses. Policies should be introduces to build new homes outside the city, ensuring proper facilities like hospital , schools and parks. For example, city of Istanbul which was ruled by greeks , Romans and Turks had so many historical builds most of them where demolished to build new houses and that city lost its history.

Sudden rise in population also increases the demand to create new homes. City adminsitration also finds itself in a challenging situation, for them it becomes hard to manage the affairs of the city. For example, with the rise in population demand for new infrastructure also increases, New roads and highways are build to give general public a better and ease to commute and they are designed to save the time of peoples, and for that it is required to demolish the historical buildings.

In conclusion, historical buildings reflects the culture of any society, proper urban housing planning is needed to protect them. Measure to control the population should be introduce by the government and ensure its enforcement.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you disagree with demolishing historic buildings, and you give relevant reasons about cultural heritage and urban planning. The Istanbul example helps illustrate the loss of history, while the conclusion returns to protecting historic buildings. However, the response only partly develops the task. The population-growth paragraph explains why cities need more infrastructure, but it does not clearly support your disagreement; it even says demolition is required, which conflicts with your stated position. The proposed solutions—building outside the city and controlling population—also need explanation of how they would meet housing demand while preserving heritage. Develop these links and make each example directly reinforce your argument.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. Each body paragraph has a main topic, and phrases such as “For example” help signal supporting details. However, progression is weakened by the contradiction between your position and the second body paragraph, which concludes that historic buildings must be demolished for infrastructure. Some connections between ideas are also abrupt: the discussion moves from population growth to roads and highways without explaining how this relates to the need for homes. Improve cohesion by using each paragraph to develop one consistent reason, and add clearer links between claims, examples and your overall disagreement.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “historical buildings,” “urban housing planning,” “population,” “infrastructure” and “demolished.” This gives the response an appropriate subject focus. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “accomadate people,” “historical builds,” “city adminsitration,” and “a better and ease to commute.” Spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the reader pause. Aim for more precise expressions and check spelling carefully. For example, use “accommodate residents,” “historic structures,” “city authorities,” and “make commuting easier” to express your ideas more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a relative clause in “which are important part of any society's culture” and a participial phrase in “ensuring proper facilities.” However, errors occur frequently and sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Examples include “historical buildings reflects,” where the subject and verb do not agree, “Policies should be introduces,” and “Measure … should be introduce,” where the verb forms are incorrect. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention, as in “which are important part” and the run-on sentence beginning “New roads and highways are build.” Practise agreement, passive verb forms and punctuation, then proofread each sentence for a complete, clear structure.

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