Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-19
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 recent years, the world's population growing rapidly in large cities because there is lot of opportunities for employment. In large cities many peoples faced several problems in housing.
There are many factors to build an apartments in large cities because in large cities a lot of job opportunities are circulating. Many peoples from villages are move to large cities for jobs. For example my nephew is a software engineer but he was living in village so he applying for job in his village but there is no software house. So he decided to move in capital city of the country where he found lot of jobs. so he want to rent a house but there is no house available so he choose to living in apartment.
Moreover, houses are not available in large cities according to the population because there is a lot of restaurant, shops and markets. So most of peoples are prefer to rent an apartment blocks in building. For instance if we have a building which consist on 10 floors and every floor have 20 apartments so the total apartments is two hundred which means two hundred families are living in just one building instead of this we need two hundred houses for two hundred families. in my opinion the best way to provide enough houses in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks.
In conclusion large cities facing housing problems. So there is only one solution for providing better housing for enough peoples is to build large buildings which consist on numbers of apartments.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by expressing a clear opinion in favor of tall apartment blocks. However, the development of ideas is limited. While you provide a personal example regarding your nephew, it is somewhat tangential to the core argument about urban planning. The explanation regarding space efficiency is relevant but lacks depth and academic sophistication. To improve, you should focus on broader societal or economic implications of high-density housing, such as infrastructure sustainability or land conservation, rather than relying on anecdotal evidence. The position is consistent, but the supporting arguments remain somewhat superficial and repetitive.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is mechanical and sometimes inaccurate. For example, the transition 'instead of this' is used awkwardly to contrast the number of houses versus apartments. Additionally, the flow between sentences is often interrupted by grammatical errors, making the progression of ideas feel disjointed. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the phrase 'many peoples from villages are move to large cities'. Improving your use of linking words like 'consequently', 'furthermore', and 'in light of this' would help create a more natural and logical flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. You frequently use basic terms like 'large cities', 'houses', and 'jobs'. There are also persistent errors in word form and collocation, such as 'many peoples' (should be 'many people') and 'circulating' (which is not the correct term for job availability). The range of vocabulary is insufficient to express complex ideas with precision. To reach a higher band, you should work on using more academic collocations and synonyms, such as 'urbanization', 'high-density residential developments', or 'employment prospects', rather than repeating simple phrases throughout the text.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('population growing' instead of 'is growing'), incorrect verb forms ('are move' instead of 'move'), and missing articles. Sentence structures are predominantly simple or contain errors when attempting complexity. For instance, 'if we have a building which consist on 10 floors' contains both a subject-verb agreement error and an incorrect preposition. You need to focus on basic sentence construction, specifically ensuring that verbs are correctly conjugated and that prepositions are used accurately. A greater variety of complex sentence structures is required for a higher score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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