Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-11

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)

Yeah the statement is right to some extent but i dont agree with it 100%. according to my experience, there are some practical solutions to cater these kind of problems. One of them is sorting and organising, if we organise and sort out the areas for different purposes such as we allocate a specific area for the shops, market and other business activities. Around this area we can build town houses and residencial properties for public.

Instead of growing tall buildings, according to my experience we should expand city areas by developing new housing societies because people now a days prefer safety, security as well as calm and relax environment which is the most important thing and its not possible in the tall apartment building. I recently visited a large city and experinced this change with my naked eyes. First of all i was totally shocked due to the expansion of the city. They built new housing societies. They provided every possible facility so that residents dont bother going far away to buy daily routine items such as bread eggs or general groceries and other household essentials.

The other reason is that i beleive in a concept that says the smaller is your house the smaller would be your growth which includes your financial growth or mental growth. One of my friend lives in a small apartment room and he couldn't move on from his past relationships and couln't grown in his career while on the other hand another friend lived in a bigger family home, he changed his entire life and grown too much that now he is the most successful man i know in my class. I genuinely proud of his achievements.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a recognisable position: you partly accept the statement but argue that expanding housing areas is preferable to relying on tall blocks. The discussion of planned housing societies and nearby facilities is relevant, and the example of a city you visited helps illustrate that alternative. However, the response addresses the prompt only partially because it gives little consideration to why tall apartment blocks might provide homes efficiently, or when they could be useful. The claim that a smaller home limits personal or financial growth is also asserted through two friends’ experiences rather than explained as a convincing reason about housing provision. Develop a balanced argument about the advantages and drawbacks of high-rise housing, and support each main point with clearer reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: it introduces a position, presents planned housing as an alternative, and then gives a further reason. Connectors such as “Instead of” and “The other reason” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression is uneven: the final paragraph shifts from city housing policy to personal success, so the link to the question is not clear. Some sentences also contain several ideas without clear relationships, particularly the opening paragraph’s list of land uses and housing. Use one focused point per paragraph, explain how it supports your position, and make references such as “this change” more specific. More precise linking between examples and the argument would make the organisation easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “housing societies,” “residential properties,” “facilities,” and “daily routine items,” which helps communicate your ideas. However, the range is limited and several choices or collocations are awkward, such as “cater these kind of problems,” “calm and relax environment,” and “with my naked eyes.” Spelling errors, including “residencial,” “experinced,” and “beleive,” are also noticeable and reduce the accuracy of the vocabulary. Aim for more precise language about urban planning and housing, and check spelling carefully. Replacing informal expressions such as “too much” with more exact descriptions would also make the response more suitable for an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including clauses introduced by “because” and “so that,” but control is inconsistent. Errors occur frequently in basic forms and in more complex sentences: “i dont agree” needs correct capitalisation and punctuation, “people … prefer … environment” has an agreement problem, and “he … couldn't grown” uses an incorrect verb form. The sentence beginning “The other reason is that i beleive in a concept” also becomes difficult to manage as it develops into a long comparison. These errors sometimes make the reader pause, although the main meaning is generally recoverable. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, past-tense forms, articles, and sentence boundaries before adding more complex structures.

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