Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-07

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)

The growth of world population needs more enough space to stay than the past as there are no enough homes to them. In order to face to this problem, human tend to build lots of apartments and flats. While I agree that decision, I also believe that there will be some negative impacts of making those huge buildings.

In the present, with the rapid development of the technology people have found that building huge apartment blocks in cities is helpful to provide enough homes to everyone. It is another way to upgrade the lifestyle of the humans as it led the way to develop the cities with new facilities. New York, Toronto, Paris, Sydney are some examples for such cities. Consequently, building apartments which are taller is a good way to manage even the small space of land than making small homes.

Although building huge buildings in cities make the way to own a home in city, there are some problems of this. When living in an apartment the owners will not have a garden to spend their time with nature as it is a good thing to maintain balanced mental and physical health. On the other hand, if a fire spread through the apartment, it will be very difficult to save the people's lives who live in there. Due to those things some of the people consider that huge buildings are not a good way to provide homes to all the humans.

In conclusion, most of the people believe that best approach to provide homes to humans is building apartments rather than making homes separately. Therefore, it also gives consequences to the society meanwhile there are few problems of living in those apartments.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have addressed the prompt by providing a clear position and discussing both the benefits and drawbacks of tall apartment blocks. However, the development of your ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, while you mention that tall buildings help manage space, you could have expanded on how this impacts urban infrastructure or social density. The conclusion is slightly contradictory, as it states that 'most people believe' this is the best approach, which does not fully align with your earlier balanced argument. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting points are more thoroughly explained with specific examples or logical reasoning rather than just stating them.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In the present,' 'On the other hand,' and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and some transitions feel abrupt. For example, the transition between the benefits of technology and the mention of specific cities is a bit disjointed. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final paragraph where the summary of the argument does not perfectly reflect the nuanced position taken in the introduction. Improving the variety of linking words would enhance the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey your meaning clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'urban infrastructure' or 'facilities,' but the range is somewhat limited and repetitive. Phrases like 'huge buildings' and 'provide homes' are used multiple times. There are also some minor issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'needs more enough space' (should be 'requires more space') and 'make the way to own a home' (should be 'facilitates home ownership'). To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and avoid repeating basic descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Common issues include article usage ('the growth of world population'), subject-verb agreement ('human tend to build'), and awkward phrasing ('if a fire spread through the apartment'). Some sentences are also slightly ungrammatical, such as 'it will be very difficult to save the people's lives who live in there.' While these errors rarely impede communication, they indicate a need for more consistent control over basic and complex grammatical forms.

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

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