Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-12

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 many large cities, there is a growing need for more homes because of increasing populations. Some people believe that building tall apartment blocks is the best way to solve this problem. I partly agree with this view because high-rise buildings can save space, but they can also create some problems.

One major advantages of tall apartment is that they can provide home for many people in small area. Land is often limited and population of world and cities are increase day by day and also land in cities is very expensive and unaffordable so tall apartment is best solution. For example a high single rise building can contain hundred apartments approximately hundreds of families can lives in same buildings, and this has also cheap for living.

However, i don't believe that building tall apartment is the only best solution because tall building have safety concern, tall building is not safe especially in poor countries dealer use bad quality material like cement and iron bar. On the other hand tall buildings can also cause overcrowding and put pressure on public service, like hospital, school.

And this also cause heavy traffic on road this cause accidents.

In my opinion city should be a combination of tall and normal houses. Tall building should be build in suitable area outsides crowded city centre, at the same time government should improve basic facilites like hospitals public transports.

In conclusion, I agree that tall apartments blocks are an effective way to provide more house to people but it also have some issue especially where land is limit, and also have saftey issue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by presenting a balanced view, acknowledging both the benefits and drawbacks of high-rise living. The position is clear throughout. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the argument regarding safety and poor construction materials is mentioned but not fully explored with specific evidence or logical depth. While the response covers all parts of the task, the supporting points are occasionally repetitive and lack the depth required for a higher band. The conclusion effectively summarizes the main points, but the overall development remains at a functional level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'One major advantage', 'However', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, the use of these devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. There are instances where the flow between sentences feels slightly disjointed, particularly in the second paragraph where the transition between land scarcity and the example of a building is abrupt. Referencing is generally clear, but the overall progression of ideas could be smoother to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There is a reliance on basic terms like 'good', 'bad', and 'big'. Some word choices are inaccurate, such as 'dealer use bad quality material' (referring to contractors or developers) and 'high single rise building'. There are also minor spelling and collocation errors, such as 'saftey' and 'facilites'. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is not sufficient to demonstrate the flexibility or sophistication required for a band 7 or higher.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'population of world and cities are increase'), missing articles (e.g., 'provide home for many people'), and pluralization errors (e.g., 'tall apartment'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with some run-on sentences and missing commas. While the errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they are frequent enough to limit the score to a band 5.5.

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