Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-16

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 cities, having a home is a challenge. As there are so many people living in cities so the residential space is limited.

To provide enough homes in big cities we should bulid our homes vertically with tall bulidings and so many apartments so maximum people can live in small space.

Tall bulidings can avoid the wastage of land being used for horizantal bulidings. And more people can adjust in small piece of land.

In cities, there are many facilites which are not available in the rural areas, So the people from rural areas come for there jobs, businesses, healthcare and for other reasons. So the population of people in cities increased.

To handle this increase in population there is a large amount of land is required for housing purposes. And this can cause land waste (pollution) as well in big cities.

To overcome these kind of threats to bulid the tall buliding is a solution that can save the land in cities, which can be used for agricultural or for other reasons in later.

There are so many examples of tall bulidings cities. One of them is China's capital Beijing, as China having a population of 1.4 billion people. And there cities are overpopulated with people.

China used to bulid vertical bulidings in Beijing first and later on in whole country to manage the people with homes. In tall bulidings as a 40 to 50 apartments there can live almost 100 families in a single buliding.

This practice can save much of agricultural land to use for agriculture, producing food for people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by arguing in favor of tall apartment blocks to solve housing shortages. However, the development is somewhat repetitive, and the argument lacks depth. While you mention land conservation and population growth, the ideas are not fully extended. For instance, the discussion on Beijing is a good attempt at providing an example, but it remains descriptive rather than analytical. To improve, ensure that each paragraph introduces a distinct, well-supported point that directly relates to the 'extent' of your agreement. The position is clear, but the overall argument would benefit from considering potential counter-arguments or more nuanced consequences of high-rise living.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the flow between sentences is often mechanical. You rely heavily on simple connectors like 'And' and 'So' to start sentences, which limits the sophistication of your writing. While there is a logical progression from the problem (housing shortage) to the solution (tall buildings), the internal structure of the paragraphs is weak. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the use of cohesive devices is limited. To reach a higher band, try to use a wider variety of linking words and phrases (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'in contrast') to create a more natural flow between your ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You frequently repeat basic terms like 'buildings', 'homes', and 'people'. There are also several spelling errors, such as 'bulid' (build), 'horizantal' (horizontal), and 'facilites' (facilities), which occur consistently throughout the text. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of range and the persistent spelling issues prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on learning synonyms for common words and pay closer attention to the spelling of frequently used academic vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay relies mostly on simple sentence structures. While there are attempts at complex sentences, they are often marred by grammatical errors, such as 'As there are so many people living in cities so the residential space is limited' (redundant 'so') and 'there cities are overpopulated' (incorrect use of 'there' instead of 'their'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. To improve, practice using a wider variety of complex structures, such as relative clauses or conditional sentences, and focus on subject-verb agreement and correct word order to reduce the frequency of errors.

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

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