Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-05

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 decades, urbanization is growing rapidly, constructing high-rise towers in mega cities. Some say that in order to address accommodation shortages for inhabitants, government should construct multi-story apartments. I fully disagree with this viewpoint, and this essay will explain why.

First of all, there are many other efficient ways to minimize the number of the homeless including, repurposing unused commercial buildings and developing satellite cities. Almost in every large cities, there exists abandoned structures, thereby government policies may utilize those in beneficial ways such as providing houses. Thus, since population concentration became ubiquitous issue, suburban areas can be developed to balance population density. By expanding outward rather than upward, cities can accommodate growing populations without overwhelming central infrastructure.

However, high-rise apartments might be advantageous in some reason. They can accommodate a large number of households in a small area, nevertheless, tall buildings might be affected more by natural disasters such as earthquake. Therefore, although it has pros in space, it is not the best way since there are far more convenient techniques.

To sum up, while housings in large cities by constructing high-rise apartments provide a space-efficient way to accommodate dense populations, constructing tall towers is not the best or only solution to the urban housing crisis. Alternative strategies, such as converting disused buildings and building well-connected satellite towns, offer far more sustainable long-term answers to meeting accommodation demands.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The essay addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. However, the response is under the 250-word minimum, which limits the depth of the argument. While the ideas regarding repurposing buildings and satellite cities are relevant, they are not fully developed with specific examples or detailed reasoning. The conclusion is brief, and the overall development is somewhat constrained by the length. To reach a higher band, you must expand on your arguments with more detailed explanations and concrete illustrations to ensure the response meets the length requirement and provides a more comprehensive analysis of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. Cohesive devices such as 'First of all', 'However', and 'To sum up' are used to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the transition from discussing high-rise benefits to natural disasters is a bit abrupt. The referencing is generally clear, but the overall progression of ideas would benefit from more sophisticated linking words and a more cohesive integration of the counter-argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'urbanization', 'ubiquitous', and 'infrastructure'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'constructing high-rise towers in mega cities' (which is slightly awkward) and 'in some reason' (should be 'for some reasons'). The vocabulary is functional but lacks the precision and variety required for higher bands. To improve, focus on using more natural collocations and a wider variety of topic-specific vocabulary to express your ideas more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'government should construct' (missing an article: 'the government'), 'Almost in every large cities' (should be 'In almost every large city'), and 'population concentration became ubiquitous issue' (missing an article: 'a ubiquitous issue'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. You should focus on subject-verb agreement, article usage, and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with greater accuracy.

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

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