Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-05

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 argued by many that the better way to provide houses in big cities is to develop tall apartment blocks. I completely disagree with this statement because of many reasons, which I will discuss in the upcoming paragraphs.

The most compelling reason for believing this is that joint families feel uncomfortable, as many joint families need large areas to live if they live in apartments, they may suffer from many difficulties, such as privacy. For instance, in some part of Europe there are many cities where joint families live, as they usually suffer from small surface area and privacy. Therefore, large cities should build houses rather than tall buildings.

Furthermore, it may difficult for those who work as many people move from one place to another to work if they live in tall buildings, as the building are far away from their office, which create a problem for them to travel long distances. To illustrate, in Turkey, there are some cities where individuals stay rentily in tall buildings and go for jobs while covering long distance which problem from them as they early get tired. Hence, it may lead to dizziness and tiredness.

In conclusion, I believe that introducing tall buildings in large cities is not the best way to provide enough homes to people. This is because a joint family may suffer from problems as well as lead to tiredness among working individuals. Given this situation, it is recommended that administration should build small houses instead of building tall apartment blocks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear position against tall apartment blocks. However, the development of ideas is limited. The argument regarding 'joint families' is somewhat underdeveloped and lacks a clear logical link to why tall buildings specifically cause these issues compared to other housing types. The second argument about commuting is relevant but relies on generalizations that are not fully supported. To improve, you should provide more nuanced reasoning and concrete examples that directly connect the housing type to the social or logistical problems described, rather than relying on broad claims about 'dizziness' or 'tiredness'.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or slightly inaccurate. For example, 'The most compelling reason for believing this is that...' is a heavy-handed way to introduce a point. Additionally, the transition between the idea of 'joint families' and the conclusion is somewhat abrupt. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the link between living in tall buildings and commuting distance is asserted without a strong logical connector. Improving the variety and precision of linking words would enhance the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. There are several instances of awkward phrasing or incorrect word choices, such as 'stay rentily' and 'as they early get tired'. These errors occasionally impede the clarity of your argument. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using more sophisticated collocations and avoiding repetitive language. Instead of basic terms like 'big cities' or 'small houses', try to incorporate more academic vocabulary related to urban planning and housing infrastructure.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include missing articles (e.g., 'in some part of Europe'), subject-verb agreement errors, and awkward sentence construction (e.g., 'which problem from them'). While these errors do not completely prevent the reader from understanding your message, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic sentence structure, ensuring that every sentence has a clear subject and verb, and practicing the correct use of relative clauses and prepositions.

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