Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-25

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)

It is often argued that high-rise buildings in big cities are an excellent way to provide enough accommodation for people. I partly agree with the given statement as other sides cannot be overlooked. This essay will discuss both in detail in the following paragraphs.

To begin with, there are numerous benefits of tall apartment blocks. Firstly, rooms are easily available in high-rise buildings. To explain, in large cities, people prefer to live in apartments. So availability of rooms is in good supplies. For example, if a person moves to an urban city, they can find out plenty of rooms according to their preference. Another advantage of high-rise apartments is that, safety and security. To elaborate, high rise buildings have security guard at the entrance of building which decrease the chances of theft. For instance, according to a survey conducted by National Sample Survey office, in India, in 2025, on ten thousand people, it was observed that 70% of people prefer to live in apartments rather than in their own homes because they felt more secured in an apartment.

On the other hand, there are some demerits of tall apartments. First and foremost, high-rise apartments are quite expensive. To explain, in recent years, a lot of people prefer to live in an apartment. As a result, due to high demands of high-rise buildings, its price increased. For instance, a large cities like Mumbai, people have to spend around 20% of their salary on paying their apartment's rent because it's quiet expensive to live in a big cities.

In conclusion, even though there are few drawbacks of tall apartments, the benefits are much more than that.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The essay addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of high-rise buildings. However, the development of ideas is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding 'availability of rooms' is repetitive and lacks depth. The conclusion is also quite abrupt and fails to adequately summarize the main points or restate the position clearly. While the position is consistent, the supporting evidence, such as the specific survey mentioned, feels slightly forced and could be better integrated into the argument. To improve, ensure that each body paragraph provides a more thorough analysis of the implications of the points raised rather than simply listing them.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and the progression of ideas is generally clear. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Firstly', and 'On the other hand' are used to signal the structure. However, some transitions feel mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'To explain' and 'For instance' to start sentences. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and phrases to create a more natural, sophisticated connection between ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for a higher band. There are instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'availability of rooms is in good supplies' and 'felt more secured'. The word choice is often repetitive, relying on basic terms like 'big cities' and 'expensive'. To achieve a higher score, you should aim to use more precise collocations and a wider variety of academic vocabulary, such as 'urban density', 'cost-prohibitive', or 'infrastructure development', rather than relying on simple descriptors.

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 several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. Examples include 'high rise buildings have security guard' (missing article/pluralization), 'a large cities' (incorrect article usage), and 'it's quiet expensive' (spelling error: 'quite'). These errors do not impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Increasing the variety of complex structures and ensuring subject-verb agreement and article usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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