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)

One of the most common issues across the world is population growth as the numbers are gradually increasing and with this increasing population the other issue arises which is that how to accommodate all the people as there is not enough land to construct homes for the individuals.

The most preferable solution to this problem is to build tall apartment blocks to fit the people and in order to use less land for building houses. This way ,less land will be accommodated and more people can reside in these sky touching apartments .

As far as the use of land is concerned, i agree with this model to construct large and tall apartments to reduce the use to land because the population is growing in such a manner that there is not enough land and resources that every person can make it own house .

To some extend, i disagree with this structure because it is like putting people's life in lion's jaw as we are aware of the fact that recently many earthquakes have been recorded and these natural phenomenon's has effected the tall buildings and the buildings collapsed.

For instance, Japan experienced some of the most lethal and deadly earthquakes which eventually resulted in destruction and deaths .Somehow the reason to high number of deaths is that Japan came up with the idea of building the tall apartments due to the rising population . This infrastructure development resulted in collapse of these apartments because these tall blocks couldn't stand a chance against natural phenomenon.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of tall apartment blocks. However, the development is somewhat superficial. While you mention land scarcity and safety concerns, the arguments lack depth and specific evidence. For instance, the claim that Japan's earthquake deaths were primarily caused by tall apartment buildings is a significant overgeneralization and lacks factual accuracy, which weakens the persuasiveness of your argument. To improve, ensure your supporting points are logically sound and better developed. You have a clear position, but the balance between the two sides could be more nuanced to reach a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive. Phrases like 'As far as the use of land is concerned' and 'For instance' are used, but the transitions between ideas within paragraphs are sometimes abrupt. The logical progression is present, but the connections between sentences could be smoother. Additionally, the paragraphing is a bit fragmented, with some very short paragraphs that could be better integrated into a more cohesive argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks sophistication. You use some repetitive phrasing, such as 'increasing population' and 'tall apartment blocks'. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'sky touching' (which is informal) and 'natural phenomenon's' (which contains a punctuation error). To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary and avoid informal or idiomatic expressions that do not fit the formal tone of an IELTS essay.

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 clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'these natural phenomenon's has effected'), incorrect use of articles, and punctuation errors (e.g., 'This way ,less land'). The misuse of apostrophes and pluralization is a recurring issue. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and sentence construction.

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

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