Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-13

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)

In recent years, there is an ongoing popularity to construct tall buildings in large cities. Nowadays, people are moving to large cities for better life opportunities such as higher education, soecialised health-care, higher job facilities etc, as a result there is an increasing demand for accommodation in urban cities, as well as creating overall pollution in the environment. I firmly do not agree with the idea that the best way to provide enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks, because it creates various types of risks, particularly, the degradation of environment and the welfare of the social-being.

As technology improved over the years, people are looking forward to move in urban areas, because of the various future opportunities,as an example the multinational companies, industries and organizations build in large cities, for these reasons many job seekers are looking forward to move to large cities. Consequently, there is an increasing tendency to build tall apartments to provide home to the large population.

Another reason to disagree with that, is that building tall apartment blocks also associated with risks for many. For instance,if there is any earthquake happens, they do not even have the chance to safe or protect themselves because of living in the tall buildings. In addition, by constructing tall apartments there had an profound impacts on the whole environment such as land degradation,traffic congestion, air pollution,health risks, ultimately decreasing the overall social well-being.

To address this problem,effective measures should be taken by the government by limiting on the size of the population on the city life, as well as not to create huge pressure on the land by building tall apartment blocks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you disagree that tall apartment blocks are the best solution, and you give relevant concerns about earthquake safety and environmental effects. However, the response only partly develops the task. Much of the first body paragraph explains why people move to cities and why demand for housing rises; it does not show why high-rise construction is not the best response. The safety and environmental points are relevant, but they are asserted rather than supported with specific explanation or examples. The final suggestion to limit the city population is also not explained as a practical way to provide enough homes. Develop each reason with a clear link to your position and a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an introduction, two body paragraphs and a concluding recommendation, so there is some overall organisation. The ideas are generally related to urban housing, and connectors such as “Consequently” and “In addition” help signal relationships. However, progression is uneven: the first body paragraph mainly describes migration and housing demand, rather than advancing the disagreement stated in the introduction. Several sentences are overloaded with multiple ideas, and punctuation around linking phrases is inconsistent, making connections harder to follow. The conclusion introduces population limits without clearly linking this proposal to the earlier arguments. Use one main point per paragraph, explain how it supports your position, and make transitions and references more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “accommodation,” “earthquake,” “land degradation,” and “traffic congestion,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “increasing demand” and “social well-being.” However, the range is limited by repeated wording such as “large cities,” “tall apartment blocks,” and “looking forward to move,” while several choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear. Examples include “higher job facilities,” “social-being,” and “limiting on the size of the population.” Spelling errors such as “soecialised” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise housing and planning vocabulary, and check that each phrase is a natural English collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt complex sentences using clauses and linking expressions, for example the opening sentence beginning “Nowadays, people are moving…” and the sentence about earthquake risks. However, these longer structures are often faulty, and the range of reliably controlled sentence patterns is limited. Errors include “there is an ongoing popularity to construct,” “people are looking forward to move,” and “if there is any earthquake happens.” There are also problems with articles, verb forms and sentence construction in “there had an profound impacts.” Commas are frequently missing or misplaced, and some sentences run together. Practise building accurate complex sentences, especially with infinitives, conditional clauses and subject–verb agreement, then proofread punctuation.

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