Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-07

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 6.5)

It has been observed that, accommodation remains the major problem for many big cities. Although, many people believe that constructing tall apartments is the best way to provide enough homes to local people. I agree the given statement to a large extent. My inclination is elaborated in upcoming paragraphs.

The foremost argument to justify my stand is that, as the population in big cities is increasing day by day, if we build house in horizontal way such as building a house with only one or two floors, it requires a lot of space to build house for all the locals who are homeless. For this purpose, government should build tall apartment blocks which requires less space and will maximize the number of reisdent per square meters. Furthermore, high density housing also make it easier and cost effective to provide transportation, utilities and emergency services.

On the contrary, some people counter claim the mentioned support. The foremost argument they do us that concentrating more people in smaller space can overwhelm local resources such as roads and hospital. To add to this, they also say that high-rises can also foster social isolation. Residents often do not know their neighbors, leading to a lack of community spirit.

In conclusion, while I strongly agree that building tall apartment blocks is a necessary and highly efficient method of addressing urban housing shortages, it cannot be the sole strategy. For a city to remain livable, high-rises must be integrated with mid-density housing and broader decentralization efforts to prevent overwhelming local infrastructure and isolating residents.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have addressed all parts of the prompt and maintained a clear position throughout. Your arguments regarding space efficiency and infrastructure are relevant and well-developed. The inclusion of a counter-argument in the third paragraph adds depth to your response, demonstrating a balanced perspective. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting examples are more specific; for instance, instead of mentioning 'emergency services' generally, you could briefly refer to how high-density living allows for faster response times in a specific city context. Overall, your ideas are well-supported and directly answer the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

Your essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'The foremost argument,' 'Furthermore,' and 'On the contrary' to guide the reader through your points. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For example, the phrase 'My inclination is elaborated in upcoming paragraphs' is a bit formulaic. Improving the variety of your linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence will help improve the overall flow and coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Terms like 'high-density housing,' 'urban housing shortages,' and 'decentralization' are used effectively. There are some minor errors in word choice, such as 'reisdent' (spelling) and 'do us' (should be 'do is'). To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations and avoid repetitive phrasing. While your vocabulary is adequate for the task, expanding your use of less common lexical items would help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical slips, such as 'if we build house in horizontal way' (should be 'houses' and 'a horizontal way') and 'high density housing also make' (subject-verb agreement: 'makes'). Additionally, there are some punctuation errors, such as the unnecessary comma after 'Although' in the first paragraph. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and article usage to enhance your accuracy.

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

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