Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-04

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)

There is ongoing debate about to construct massive residential building in large cities to provide enough house for individuals is the best idea. I completely agree with this view because it provides efficient use of land and lower infrastructure costs.

The primary reason why i support this view is that tall apartment saves most of the land area and large cities have limited land so this approach is really helpful for government. A good illustration of this can be seen in cities like Singapore and Hong Kong use high rise apartments because land is scarce. As a result these countries have more land property than other countries it uses in farming.

Another equally important reason is that it lower infrastructure costs. In other words it beneficial for individuals and government as well as. For instance people have to spend less money to live in flats compared to land houses. also governments spend less money to supply electricity, water supply and roads because services are concentrated in one location. As a result it saves lots of money for citizens and authorities. Furthermore from this saved fund government easily focuses on projects like green spaces and support tree plantation in empty land.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that making tall buildings for living is great way because it saves land spaces where people can support their country due to farming. It preserve additional infrastructure costs so the people easily purchase home in less finance. Therefore administrative make more effect on green spaces that reduces CO2 emissions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The ideas regarding land efficiency and infrastructure costs are relevant and supported with examples like Singapore and Hong Kong. However, the development is somewhat limited; the explanation of how tall buildings specifically allow for more farming land is a bit simplistic and lacks depth. While the position is clear, the arguments could be extended further to reach a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, though it introduces a slightly new idea about CO2 emissions that was not fully explored in the body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. Cohesive devices such as 'The primary reason', 'Another equally important reason', and 'In conclusion' are used to guide the reader. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by mechanical phrasing and some awkward transitions, such as 'as well as' at the end of a sentence. Referencing is generally clear, but some sentences feel disconnected due to repetitive structures. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, body, and conclusion, which helps the overall progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks sophistication. You use basic terms like 'massive residential building', 'really helpful', and 'lots of money'. While these communicate your meaning, they do not demonstrate the range required for a higher band. There are some collocation issues, such as 'making tall buildings' instead of 'constructing high-rise developments' and 'less finance' instead of 'lower costs' or 'greater affordability'. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and avoiding repetitive, informal phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the government', 'a good illustration'), subject-verb agreement ('tall apartment saves'), and word order. For example, 'administrative make more effect' is grammatically incorrect. While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your argument, they are frequent enough to impact the overall fluency. You should focus on proofreading for basic errors and practicing more complex sentence structures to improve accuracy and variety.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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