Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-02

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)

Large cities are becoming overcrowded as people from urban areas are moving to advanced and developed cities for better job and education. Yet, to some extent accommodation issue is faced by majority of the people.

To commence with, I deliberately would say that building apartments to provide home to the one in need is a good idea. I believe that many people shifts to advanced large cities for better lifestyle and settlement, so for their family's ease, apartments are better options for a living either for rent system monthly or ownership. For example, as I moved to Lahore from Islamabad for education purpose, I rented an apartment that made it easier for me to study and live a good life.

Moreover, I firmly think that apartments take less area that a house. Apartment are less spacious and build in such a way that in a small land, a taller building can be built with up to 20 floors, providing accommodation for more than 40 families. For instance, an house of 4BHK provides a living to only one or two families, whereas an apartment building of 10 floors with a area of 4BHK can be suitable of almost 20 families to live in at different floors.

To conclude this, I strongly agree that building tall apartments that can provide enough living for people is a very great notion. Also it takes less space than a house and provide a better lifestyle in a society.

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. However, the essay falls short of the 250-word minimum requirement, which negatively impacts the development of ideas. While the main arguments—space efficiency and urban density—are relevant, they are somewhat repetitive and lack depth. The examples provided, such as moving to Lahore, are personal but could be better integrated to support the broader argument about city planning. To reach a higher band, you should expand on the implications of your arguments, such as discussing infrastructure or social impacts, to ensure a more comprehensive response that meets the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, and there is a logical progression of ideas from the introduction to the conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices like 'To commence with', 'Moreover', and 'To conclude this' to link your points. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as in the second paragraph where the comparison between house sizes and apartment capacity is slightly confusing. Improving the variety of your linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus would enhance the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'overcrowded', 'accommodation', and 'settlement'. However, there are instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'provide home to the one in need' (should be 'provide homes for those in need') and 'take less area that a house' (should be 'occupy less space than a house'). The vocabulary is generally functional but lacks the precision and sophistication required for higher band scores. Focusing on learning collocations and more academic synonyms for common words will help improve your lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'many people shifts' (subject-verb agreement error), 'Apartment are less spacious' (pluralization error), and 'an house' (article error). Additionally, there are issues with prepositions and sentence construction, such as 'suitable of almost 20 families'. To improve, you should focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and article usage, and try to incorporate more complex sentence forms with greater accuracy.

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

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