Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

The best way to provide enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Some people argue that the best way to provide enough accomodation to the residents in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks. I disagree with this view, because in this way, just more and more buildings will be constructed which damages the environment in the future. I believe that the best way to solve this problem is by improving the infrustructure, especially the transportation.

Nowadays, people tend to move to larger cities to pursue bigger opportunities which creates accomodation demand problem to the city. To solve this problem, if the tall apartments were built, there will be excessive number of buildings until there is no place left for any other buildings and any residential spaces for the citizens. It will cause significant damage to the environment in the future, such as increased greenhouse emission from the construction process and air pollution problem because of the lack of green spaces. Due to these reason, building a taller apartments is not a sustainable way.

In contrast, the best way to provide enough homes in large cities to improve the infrustructure of the city, especially the transportation. If the transportation system is efficient and accessible, people can live in the smaller cities which surrounds the large city and go to the large city by using transportation without spending too much time. In this way, there will be no neccesity to live in large cities.

In conclusion, to manage the accomodation problem in large cities fundamentally is to improve the transportation between smaller and larger cities rather than building more and more tall apartment blocks which damages the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you disagree with relying on tall apartment blocks and propose improving transport so people can live outside large cities. You give relevant reasons, including construction emissions and the value of access to jobs without a long commute. However, the response addresses the task only partially because the alternative is not fully explained: it does not show how better transport would lead to enough homes being available, or consider whether apartment blocks could still form part of the solution. The environmental argument is also asserted more than developed. The response contains 247 words, so it is three words below the required minimum; 19 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop the reasoning and add a relevant example to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall arrangement: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present the problem and your alternative, and a conclusion restates your position. Connectors such as “In contrast” and “In conclusion” help signal the stages of the argument. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes abrupt. For example, the claim that tall buildings would leave “no place left for any other buildings” is not clearly linked to the later point about green space. The repeated references to “the problem” and “the city” also make some links less precise. Build clearer cause-and-effect connections between each claim and its consequence, and use more specific referencing so readers can follow how each point supports your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “greenhouse emission,” “green spaces,” “transportation system,” and “sustainable,” which helps communicate the main ideas. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “pursue bigger opportunities.” However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors are noticeable: “accomodation,” “infrustructure,” and “neccesity” are misspelled, while “accommodation demand problem” and “bigger opportunities” are awkward or imprecise. Repetition of “large cities,” “buildings,” and “problem” also restricts flexibility. Work on accurate spelling and natural collocations, and vary key terms—for example, use “housing shortage” and “urban centres”—to express the argument more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including conditional sentences such as “If the transportation system is efficient and accessible, people can live…” and a relative clause beginning “which creates…”. The main meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors occur in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and plurals. For example, “which creates” does not agree with the plural idea of people moving, “there will be excessive number” needs an article, and “Due to these reason” has a number-agreement error. The conditional “if the tall apartments were built, there will be” also mixes verb forms. Review agreement and article use, and check that conditional clauses and their results use compatible forms. More accurate complex sentences would strengthen control.

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