Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-18

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 totally agreed with the statement that the best way to provide enough and suitable homes in large Cities is to build tall apartment blocks. Because in city we just can't build home like in rural area where we got sufficient amount of free land in cheaper cost. In cities the cost of land are very high. So if someone want to build a big home. Similar to houses in rural area it will cost him\her plenty of money. Which is out of range of average people. The second reason is that cities are mostly crowded. And to utilize and accommodate maximum people tall apartment blocks building are built. For example I stayed in burj khalifa tallest building in the united Arab Emirates. It have more then 300+ apartments. Which includes 2 or 3 bed apartments. So the main point here is that the building is in horizontal form and have the ability to accommodate 300+ families but if instead of living in tall building everyone start building home the house need more land because they are built line by line vertical form like colonies. Which leads to more land requirements. In cities there not that much free or we can sufficient and budget friendly land which is in the reach of average people to construct Houses. So in this way the tall apartment blocks are very beneficial in sense of less land coverage and budget also.

Conclusion: From the above discussion we clarified that how tall apartment blocks are beneficial in cities. providing details regarding personal experiences

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 provide reasons such as land scarcity and cost, the explanation is repetitive and lacks depth. The example of the Burj Khalifa is relevant, but the description of it as being in 'horizontal form' is confusing and contradicts the concept of a tall building. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the socio-economic benefits or potential drawbacks of high-density living to provide a more balanced and thorough argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into a single block of text, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. There is a lack of clear paragraphing, which is essential for a structured argument. While you use some cohesive devices like 'The second reason is that' and 'For example', the overall flow is hindered by the lack of logical transitions between sentences. The conclusion is also very brief and does not effectively summarize the main points. Improving your paragraph structure by separating the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion would significantly improve the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on basic terms like 'big home', 'free land', and 'crowded'. There are also some inaccuracies in word choice, such as using 'horizontal form' to describe a skyscraper, which is technically incorrect. To improve, try to incorporate more academic collocations and precise terminology related to urban planning, such as 'high-density housing', 'urban sprawl', or 'cost-effective solutions'. Avoid repeating simple words and focus on using more sophisticated synonyms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. There are issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'cost of land are', 'building are built'), incorrect verb tenses, and sentence fragments. Your sentence structures are mostly simple, with limited use of complex or compound sentences. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of periods and capitalization. To improve, focus on mastering basic subject-verb agreement and practice combining simple sentences into more complex structures using subordinating conjunctions like 'although', 'whereas', or 'consequently'.

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

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