Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-15

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 big city centers, construction of tall buildings is superb way to provide enough residential areas for inhabitants. In recent years, the residential space has become a topic of considerable debate among people. Some individual agree that it is a significant way to provide residential homes other people contend that the result is intervention of personal space, suffocation and degradation of ecosystem. From my perspective, it is a good option and this essay will describe it further.

Young people consider it as a beneficial for society because large cities provide compelling opportunities for all. In busy cities, people can get higher education, appealing career and several job options rather than under developing cities. For instance, according to a recent survey a large number of graduates and undergraduates are moving to big cities for financial prosperity, studies and wealth. Other striking factor is prevalence of transportation modes, students and working class can easily access and transported to their educational institutes and offices result in saving plethora of money, time and resources.

Mainly, Citizens can navigate a place to live effortlessly within their budget. In this result, they can save the huge money rather than constructing their own homes and invest somewhere. They can start a business with savings and become financially independent. Some people can not afford their own place of living, for them it is an excellent alternative. Building massive apartments leads to savage of land result in consuming free area for useful purposes.

Constructing close-knotted residential houses may be result in lack of privacy and under constant people scrutiny but this is not a substantial issue such as lack of living space and huge financial support.

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. While the main ideas—economic benefits and land efficiency—are relevant, the development is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding 'financial prosperity' in cities is a bit disconnected from the specific topic of high-rise housing. The essay touches on the counter-argument (lack of privacy) but dismisses it rather quickly without deep exploration. To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific examples or nuanced reasoning to support your claims, ensuring that every point directly links back to why tall buildings are the 'best' solution for housing needs.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a clear introduction and a conclusion. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly unnatural, such as 'In this result' or 'Other striking factor is'. Transitions between sentences could be smoother to improve the flow of ideas. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the progression of ideas within paragraphs could be more sophisticated. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring they are used in the correct context will help elevate your score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'degradation of ecosystem', 'financial independence', and 'prevalence'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice or collocation errors, such as 'savage of land' (likely meant 'saving' or 'efficient use') and 'close-knotted residential houses'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your argument. To improve, focus on learning collocations—words that naturally go together—and avoid forcing complex vocabulary if you are unsure of its exact meaning or usage in a specific context.

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 frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the' residential space, 'the' result is intervention) and pluralization ('Some individual agree'). There are also issues with sentence construction, such as 'Building massive apartments leads to savage of land result in consuming free area'. These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding your points. To achieve a higher band, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles, and try to vary your sentence structures with more complex, error-free clauses.

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

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