Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-31

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 this fast paced world, where natural resources are depleting continuously due to rise in population, it is an excellent approach to build tall apartment blocks to provide shelter to maximum families in urban areas. I tend to agree with this very notion because tall buildings occupy less space as compare to separate homes. Also the construction materials and other costs should be reduced.

In first place, when we build separate home, we buy a plot of particular area and then construct house on it which is very costly because the prices of plots and construction materials are sky-touching in big cities. As we know that population is increasing day by day, so urban authorities use forest and agriculture land for designing and constructing high standard societies. When there are less or no forests outside big cities the harmful climate changes appear which rose the temperature of our planet and loss of agriculture land results in shortage of food such as wheat, rice, cereals and vegetables. Thus, this is pertinent to mention that tall apartments are more beneficial as they occupy less space and more advantages.

In addition to the previous point, instead of building a separate home and buying expensive construction materials, it is easy to buy an apartment in your desired budget and according to your family members.

In a nutshell, after considering al the above mentioned arguments we reach a logical conclusion that living in a community provides more facilities and safety rather then living alone in houses.

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. The main arguments—space efficiency and environmental preservation—are relevant. However, the development is somewhat limited. The second body paragraph is quite brief and lacks specific examples or deeper analysis to fully support the claim. While the position is consistent, the ideas could be extended further to reach a higher band. The conclusion is a bit repetitive and introduces new points about 'safety' and 'facilities' that were not previously discussed in the body paragraphs, which weakens the overall logical development of the argument.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In first place', 'Thus', and 'In addition to', though some are used mechanically or slightly incorrectly (e.g., 'In first place' should be 'In the first place'). The transition between ideas is generally logical, but the final paragraph introduces new information that was not developed, which disrupts the coherence of the conclusion. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be smoother to achieve a more natural, sophisticated structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'sky-touching' (instead of 'skyrocketing' or 'exorbitant') and 'harmful climate changes appear' (instead of 'climate change occurs'). The phrase 'maximum families' is also imprecise. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'urban authorities' and 'natural resources', the range is somewhat limited, and the repetition of basic terms like 'separate home' and 'construction materials' prevents the essay from demonstrating a more flexible or sophisticated command of English.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'as compare to' (should be 'compared to'), 'rose the temperature' (should be 'raises the temperature'), and 'loss of agriculture land results' (should be 'the loss of agricultural land'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors in article usage and verb tense consistency. While the errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the message, they are frequent enough to limit the score to a 6.0, as the majority of sentences are not error-free.

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