Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-26

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 6.0)

It is believed that the best solution to the housing problem in large cities is to construct huge apartment blocks. I completely agree on this approach because it is such a way that many people can resolve their housing issue. If a country is going through a housing crisis, then tall apartments are crucial for them. Here are some of my insights regarding this matter.

We can see that most of our houses in cities today are built in such a way that they take a lot of space over the land. If this continues then some people may not have enough space to construct their houses. This problem can be solved by building tall apartment units, which will provide enough homes to many by using the same amount of space. For instance, If 10 people are about to construct a house, the construction will require a huge chunk of land. Instead if they build a tall enough apartment then, they can save that part of land which can be used to build another apartment block.

Another reason is the maintenance. Most of the people who live in their houses can understand that owning a house not only has land and construction costs, but also has maintenance costs which are expensive. Meanwhile owning a apartment is slightly affordable when compared to owning a house. For example, a person who is about to build his own house has to incur all the costs from purchasing a piece of land to building the actual house. Whereas owning an apartment does not include land costs. So the overall costs are slightly less, which makes apartments affordable.

Therefore we must understand the fact that building huge apartment blocks is a better way to resolve the housing issue. Furthermore, I believe that although housing is a huge problem now. It will be eliminated in the near future because of apartment blocks.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position in favor of tall apartment blocks. The ideas are relevant, focusing on land efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, the development is somewhat limited. The argument regarding maintenance costs is a bit repetitive and could have been expanded with more sophisticated reasoning or broader societal impacts. While the position is consistent throughout, the conclusion is slightly simplistic, stating that the housing problem will be 'eliminated' in the near future, which lacks nuance. To reach a higher band, ensure that arguments are fully extended with more detailed examples or counter-arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, each with a central theme. There is a logical progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs and the conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'For instance,' 'Meanwhile,' and 'Therefore' are used to link ideas, although some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to avoid a repetitive structure. Overall, the paragraphing is appropriate and the progression of ideas is easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. You rely on basic terms like 'huge,' 'enough,' and 'good.' While the meaning is always clear, there is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic collocations. Phrases like 'huge chunk of land' are informal. To improve, try to incorporate more academic vocabulary related to urban planning and economics, such as 'high-density housing,' 'urban sprawl,' or 'financial viability,' to demonstrate a more sophisticated command of the language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'owning a apartment' (should be 'an apartment') and 'take a lot of space over the land' (should be 'on the land'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are some minor issues with sentence fragments and comma usage. While the errors do not impede communication, the range of complex structures is somewhat limited. Increasing the use of varied subordinate clauses and ensuring subject-verb agreement would help elevate the score.

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

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