Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The good approach to facilitate as many people in cities is to build towers having many apartments rather than building just a simple house where only a single or two families live on the same space as that of towers. But with the pros, there are also many disadvantages of introducing apartments concept, because it may increase the population of that specific city.

In apartment block, many people can be accomodated in a space on which if we construct a house it will be just a space for one family. But in apartments, many families can be accomodated in that space easily. Let suppose, if there is a company or organization that provide the housing facilities to it's employees, if they build houses they need a huge space to accomodate all the employees families. But if they build a one tall apartment tower having 10 floors, with 2 apartments on each floor. Around 20 families can be accomodated in a place where if a house is build, just a single family can be accomodated.

Everything has another side too. If we prefer building large and tall towers instead of a house, there may be other issues like shortage of food, water and other daiky life things. For example of the capacity of a a city is just 2000 people, if we create a more residential spaces the more people will come and live in that city. In this way, the population may get doubled.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the central idea by explaining that apartment towers can house more families on the same land, and you give a relevant example involving employee housing. You also recognise a possible drawback: greater residential capacity may put pressure on food and water supplies. However, the response only partially answers the question because your position is not consistently clear: the opening supports towers, while the discussion of disadvantages is not followed by a clear judgement about whether you agree overall. The supporting ideas are limited and under-developed, and the final point about population growth is asserted rather than explained. The response is also 6 words below the required minimum. State your degree of agreement directly and develop each reason with a clearer explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure: the opening introduces the topic, the second paragraph explains the space-saving benefit, and the final paragraph presents a drawback. This gives the reader some organisation, and transitions such as “But” and “For example” signal contrast and illustration. However, progression is limited: the conclusion is missing, and the final paragraph ends without resolving the argument. Some linking is repetitive or awkward, particularly the repeated contrast between a house and an apartment, while “Everything has another side too” is a general transition rather than a precise connection. Improve the flow by giving each paragraph one clear purpose, using references such as “this approach” to avoid repetition, and ending with a concise statement of your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “apartment blocks,” “population,” “employees,” and “residential spaces.” The meaning is generally understandable, but the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are noticeably inaccurate. For example, “facilitate as many people” does not naturally express providing housing, and “daily life things” is vague. “Accommodated” is repeated several times, and spelling errors such as “accomodated” and “daiky” reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise housing and infrastructure vocabulary, and check spelling carefully. Replacing repeated or informal expressions with terms such as “household,” “housing capacity,” and “essential services” would make the argument clearer and more appropriate for an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer structures, including the conditional example beginning “if they build houses,” and the contrast between houses and apartment towers. However, the range is limited, and complex sentences are often faulty, so the reader sometimes has to work to follow the meaning. Examples include “if we construct a house it will be just a space,” where punctuation and sentence structure need attention, and “if the capacity of a city is just 2000 people,” which is an incomplete construction in context. There are also recurring problems with articles, agreement, and plural forms, as in “a one tall apartment tower” and “a more residential spaces.” Use shorter, controlled sentences first, then practise accurate conditional and comparative structures.

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