Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-14

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)

I strongly agree with this statement that to provide enough homes for the significant population in the large cities ; the tall building apartment blocks will be helpful to manage the numerous issues. Most of the large cities struggles to overcome the issue of overpopulation due to this fact it leads to environmental crisis. From my perspective , lands and parks are in a trouble like if the cities having a large amount of houses then there is not enough land left for agricultural purposes in next decades. Small cities are expanding in these days to give enough houses to the freshly immigrants. Moreover, the large cities are developing and becoming massive day by day. To illustrate this in Gujranwala the well-known elite towns such as "Palm city and Master city" are expanding due to overpopulation and already took various villages into it and the original names and the identities of these areas were vanished. In conclusion, the solution to all of these problem is building tall apartment blocks to save the land for agricultural purposes and to facilitate the people with fresh fruits, vegetables and grains etc. In addition, to protect fertile land from wasting in the production of houses for individuals. The tall building are more practical then houses In fact it takes less land and provide apartments to the hundred of individuals yet in the place of 30 to 35 houses only. I am living in a apartment and I experienced that these are more preferable than homes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position in favor of tall apartment blocks. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention environmental concerns and land preservation, the arguments are repetitive and lack depth. For instance, the example of Gujranwala is relevant but could be better integrated to explain how high-rise living specifically mitigates the loss of agricultural land. To improve, ensure each paragraph introduces a distinct, well-supported point rather than restating the same conclusion multiple times. The response is just over the minimum length, which restricts the opportunity to fully explore the complexities of urban planning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into a basic structure, but the flow between sentences is often mechanical. You use some cohesive devices like 'Moreover' and 'In conclusion', but the logical progression is hindered by awkward phrasing and sentence structure. Paragraphing is insufficient; the entire essay is essentially one large block of text, which makes it difficult for the reader to follow the transition between your main arguments and your personal experience. To improve, use clear paragraph breaks for each new idea and ensure that each sentence logically follows the previous one to create a smoother narrative flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. You rely on basic terms like 'large cities', 'houses', and 'issues'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'lands and parks are in a trouble' and 'freshly immigrants'. While your meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and there is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic expressions. To improve, focus on learning topic-specific collocations related to urban development, such as 'urban sprawl', 'high-density housing', or 'sustainable infrastructure'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally impede readability. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('cities struggles', 'tall building are'), incorrect article usage ('in a apartment'), and awkward sentence construction ('the solution to all of these problem is building'). While you attempt some complex structures, they are often marred by errors. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the placement of semicolons and commas. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction and proofreading for common errors like pluralization and verb tense consistency before attempting more complex grammatical structures.

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

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