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)

With the ever-growing population, the best way to accommodate the rising number of people seems to be building tall apartment blocks. I completely agree with this view because it is economical and accommodates a large number of people.

One major advantage of high-rise buildings is its their incredible efficiency with land and financial investments. A single tall apartment block can house hundreds of people while a shorter variant has trouble accommodating tens of people. Additionally, in urban areas such as cities, it is far more cost-effective in the long term to invest in high-rise apartment blocks due to its high density. This density provides for amenities such as stores and hospitals the area it needs to exist and in much higher quantities all over the city, reducing commuting times and increasing life quality. This also significantly reduces the financial burdens of the government which then allows for better and taller apartment blocks. Increasing the housing capacity of cities.

Furthermore, high-rise buildings are much likely to withstand the test of time and survive natural disasters because they are much more to standards and structurally stable than low-rise apartment blocks. Consequently increasing the number of homes in the long run and reducing the amount of funding that goes into housing. In addition, this improved integrity also reduces the number of repairs that have to be conducted in various parts of a building such as the pipes and electrical lines. reducing the bills that have to go into repairs and providing more finances for housing.

In conclusion, i believe building tall apartment blocks is the best way to provide enough homes in large cities because it is the most financially wise choice.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt clearly, taking a firm position in favor of high-rise buildings. The ideas are relevant, focusing on economic efficiency and structural integrity. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding 'natural disasters' and 'structural stability' is a strong point but lacks specific examples or deeper explanation to reach a higher band. The conclusion is brief and merely restates the position without summarizing the main arguments. To improve, ensure that each body paragraph provides a concrete example or a more detailed explanation of how the proposed solution functions in a real-world city context.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'Furthermore', and 'Consequently' are used to link sentences. However, there are instances where the flow is slightly mechanical, and some sentences are fragmented or run-on, such as 'Increasing the housing capacity of cities' and 'reducing the bills that have to go into repairs'. Improving the integration of these fragments into the preceding sentences would enhance the overall flow and coherence of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with some attempts at more sophisticated terminology like 'economical', 'financial investments', and 'structural integrity'. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'much likely to withstand' instead of 'much more likely to withstand' and 'much more to standards' which is not a standard idiomatic expression. The range is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, but to reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise collocations and a slightly wider variety of academic vocabulary to avoid repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include pronoun-antecedent disagreement ('high-rise buildings is its their'), missing articles, and sentence fragments. For instance, 'reducing the bills that have to go into repairs' is a dependent clause punctuated as a full sentence. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and ensuring that all sentences have a clear subject and main verb will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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