Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-23

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 the modern era, more and more people are living in large cities, making it difficult for the city to ensure everyone has the capacity to afford a home. While there are many more solutions to this problem i largely agree with the statement that the finest way to provide people home is to make taller apartment blocks.

Tall apartment blocks create more space in the same place where a number of people are living, vertically increasing the buildings size is a good way to tackle the over-populated cities where people have to spend a lot of money just to afford a small home. For instance, many cities of China has applied this method to counter the rising population in their cities. As there are more and more people are coming to cities to lead a better life but there are not much space left to accommodate this over-population.

Developing overall lifestyle in villages and smaller cities, creating more job opportunities and improving infrastructure can be a good solution for stopping the large population that are attracted to the big-city life. Moreover, developing villages and creating innovative job sectors outside city for younger generations and providing quality education to the people who are facing poverty and looking for jobs is a great way. For example, in Malaysia the government took initiative to develop and innovate the smaller cities to lessen the pressure on large cities.

In conclusion, although there are various ways and solutions available to tackle the over-population in large cities but these are long term solutions which takes a lot of time, so, the optimal solution is to create taller apartment blocks that provide more homes in the same space.

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. You have provided relevant arguments, such as space efficiency, and included examples from China and Malaysia. However, the development is somewhat uneven. While the first body paragraph supports the prompt, the second paragraph focuses on alternative solutions (developing rural areas), which slightly distracts from the core argument. To improve, ensure that every paragraph directly reinforces your stated position. The conclusion effectively summarizes your stance, but the overall development of ideas could be more detailed to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'For instance,' 'Moreover,' and 'In conclusion,' to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and there are instances where the progression of ideas feels slightly disjointed. For example, the transition between the benefits of tall buildings and the discussion of rural development could be smoother. Additionally, some referencing is slightly unclear, such as the use of 'these' in the conclusion, which refers back to a broad range of ideas. Improving the variety of cohesive devices would enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'accommodate,' 'over-populated,' and 'infrastructure.' However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For instance, 'ensure everyone has the capacity to afford a home' is slightly unnatural; 'ensure housing affordability' would be more precise. Similarly, 'vertically increasing the buildings size' contains a minor error in possessive punctuation. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more sophisticated vocabulary and ensure that collocations are used accurately to convey your meaning with greater precision.

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 that occasionally affect the flow. Common issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'many cities of China has applied') and redundant phrasing (e.g., 'As there are more and more people are coming'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage in complex sentences. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and reducing redundant words. Increasing the variety of error-free complex structures will help you achieve a higher score in this criterion.

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