Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-24

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 debate on tall apartment block for big cities is a trending topic nowadays. Many people support that idea, but some people also show their reluctancy to back this concept. However, I strongly agree with the notion because tall buildings is the only way to prevent cities to expand, and it also improve the overall environment.

To begin with, we have seen a lot of advancement in cities as compare to villages that urged people of backward areas to move towards cities in last some decades. Due to this huge migration, the demand for new houses surge in cities, as a result, cities enlarge their borders very much. Governments also spend more money on cities infrastructure because of territorial expansion of cities. The only solution to stop cities to spread more is to promote vertically large buildings that is also a more economic and viable option. For example, flat in building is less expensive as compare to a house.

Additionally, it also improve environment of city because people need to cover more distance in larger cities through different types of vehicles, those vehicles produce more pollution, thus environment become more impure. Moreover, epanded cities always need new construction projects that also create a lot of dust and noice. Therefore, big apartment blocks is the best way to provide more homes in large cities. For instance, cities that promote residential blocks face less polution such as beijing etc.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that large residential blocks is the most suited way to provide more homes to citizens of metropolitan cities that also avoid pollution and make cities in better size. This way governments also save money that they may spend on contruction projects and spend that budget on other issues.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt and maintains a clear position throughout. The arguments regarding urban sprawl and environmental impact are relevant and logically developed. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive, and the supporting examples, such as the mention of Beijing, are quite brief and lack depth. To reach a higher band, you should aim to provide more detailed explanations or specific data to support your claims. The conclusion effectively restates the position, but the overall development remains at a standard level, covering the requirements without fully exploring the complexities of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear central theme. You use cohesive devices such as 'To begin with,' 'Additionally,' and 'In conclusion' to signal the progression of your argument. However, some transitions feel mechanical, and there are instances where the flow between sentences is slightly disjointed, such as the transition between the environmental impact and the mention of Beijing. Referencing is generally clear, but the use of cohesive devices could be more sophisticated to improve the overall flow and connectivity of your ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing you to express your ideas clearly. You use some topic-specific terms like 'territorial expansion,' 'metropolitan,' and 'infrastructure.' However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and minor errors, such as 'reluctancy' (reluctance), 'epanded' (expanded), and 'noice' (noise). The range of vocabulary is sufficient to communicate your meaning, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands. Focusing on accurate collocations and avoiding repetitive phrasing would significantly improve your score in this area.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'tall buildings is,' 'big apartment blocks is,' 'large residential blocks is') and article usage. Additionally, there are issues with pluralization and prepositions, such as 'as compare to' instead of 'compared to.' While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your argument, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency of the text. Increasing your control over basic grammatical rules is essential for improvement.

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