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)

The statement to solve the housing issues just by building tall apartment blocks is simple minded.

While it can seem like a good idea which I mostly agree with, we have to think on how to implement those tall buildings and how it'll affect the whole city.

The most important thing to take in consideration is the architecture of the building. From the structure to the aspect of it. As for the structure we need to make sure that it can resists strong wind, the towers should not be fixed but move with the wind, otherwise catastrophes will happen. The aspect of the tower should be looked through different lenses. The first lens is the look of it and how it'll blend within the city with the other buildings already constructed. An other lens to look through is the quality of life of the population. Eg: the sun, will it block too much light and make the whole city darker ?, will it create more traffic ?, do the citizens actually want those buildings ?

Besides all of the engineering and the well being of the population we also need to be in accordance with the different laws. Before rushing into things when the project is well thought of it'll be needed to check it from a legal standpoint. Is the height of the building a problem or not ? What about noise pollutions ? What about the requirements of the architecture itself, does the city impose a specific architecture ?

To conclude, the idea itself is not bad, but needs careful considerations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt but lacks depth in argumentation. While you acknowledge the topic, your position is somewhat vague; you state you 'mostly agree' but do not clearly articulate why tall buildings are the 'best' way to solve housing issues compared to alternatives. The ideas presented—such as structural integrity, aesthetic blending, and legal compliance—are relevant but remain at a surface level. To improve, you should provide specific examples or evidence to support your claims. For instance, instead of asking rhetorical questions about traffic or sunlight, explain how urban planning can mitigate these issues. The essay lacks a strong, sustained argument, which limits the development of your ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow your train of thought. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and limited. Transitions between ideas are often abrupt, such as the jump from structural engineering to legal requirements. While you use some linking phrases like 'Besides all of the engineering' and 'To conclude', the overall flow could be improved by using a wider variety of cohesive devices to connect sentences more fluidly. Paragraphing is present, but the internal structure of the paragraphs could be more cohesive to ensure a smoother progression of ideas throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. You rely on somewhat simplistic phrasing, such as 'good idea' and 'not bad'. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'simple minded' (which should be hyphenated as 'simple-minded') and 'look through different lenses' (which is a bit informal for an academic essay). To reach a higher band, focus on using more academic collocations and precise terminology related to urban planning, such as 'high-density housing', 'infrastructure', or 'urban sprawl'.

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. For example, 'it can resists strong wind' should be 'it can resist strong wind', and 'when the project is well thought of it'll be needed to check it' is syntactically clunky. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of question marks and commas. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher level of grammatical control. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and refining complex sentence construction will be beneficial.

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

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