Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-03

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 widely believed that high-rise buildings are best for large cities to occupy less space and provide enough homes. While high rise-buildings can accommodate a huge amount of people and invade people privacy. I totally disagree with this concept since, children don't have space to play. In addition, there is a lot of noise and it's cause to mental or physical health as well. There is no objection regarding that high-rise buildings provide a lot of accommodation to people but this system damages people mentally.

On the one hand, there are a lot of cities that only have flats rather than suburban housing. Furthermore, a huge amount of people are in under one roof and the people who own an apartment they don't have space to take fresh breath in air because they don't have their own roof. One of the disadvantages is the place is so overcrowded and people don't have privacy and there are numerous noises of people. For instance, an aged person who is living in an apartment and he is not well so, this is not the good place for his health. And the biggest problem most of people face is stairs. I consider that there is a lift in most of apartments so it's so convenient for the people who are not able to use stairs and for the people who are using lift in their daily life. Although what about those people who are not able to take a lift because of claustrophobia. So, they are still using stairs and plenty of apartments have no lift and what about the people who don't have even option between choosing a lift or stairs.

On the other hand, the people who are living in suburban are enjoying their life. Moreover, they are more happy rather than the people who are living in an apartment. You are with your family and take pure air because you own a roof and a courtyard.

People who have suburban , they don't have any issue regarding expensive bills because they equipped their roof with solar panels.

It's your choice to make your house detached or single story house and in house there are plenty of rooms and everyone has their own space to rest. You design your home by your own choice. No one will you because you own your home. When you come home from a tired day you need some privacy and home gives you a comfortable place to rest.

So, overall I prefer to live in suburban rather than living in tall apartment blocks. As suburban give you more privacy and place to rest. Additionally you Utilize your roof for solar panels and courtyard to take fresh air instead of an apartment where you don't have any privacy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position against high-rise buildings. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While you mention health and privacy, the arguments are often repetitive or lack depth. For instance, the discussion about lifts and stairs is overly detailed and detracts from the main argument about urban planning. To improve, focus on broader societal or economic impacts rather than specific, anecdotal scenarios like claustrophobia. The conclusion is clear, but the overall argument would benefit from more sophisticated reasoning regarding the trade-offs between density and suburban sprawl.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the flow between and within them is often mechanical. You use basic cohesive devices like 'In addition' and 'On the one hand,' but the logical progression is sometimes hindered by awkward phrasing. For example, the transition between the discussion of lifts and the conclusion is abrupt. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the sentence 'No one will you because you own your home,' where the meaning is obscured. Improving the use of linking words to show contrast and cause-effect relationships would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. You rely on simple, repetitive language such as 'a lot of' and 'good place.' There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'take fresh breath in air' (breathe fresh air) and 'it's cause to mental or physical health' (it causes mental or physical health issues). To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more academic collocations and precise terminology related to urban development and housing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('there is a lot of noise and it's cause to...'), missing articles, and awkward sentence construction ('the people who own an apartment they don't have space'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for basic sentence structure and verb forms.

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