Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-12

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 true that the appropriate method to provide enough houses in urban areas is to construct tall flats. This is because it consume quite lesser area as compared to the ground floor house. This essay will discuss this viewpoint and give my opinion.

One of the major key factor contributing to this statement is convenience. If individuals who are working within the cities, providing home close to their office is more flexible and convenient. People do not need to commute through heavy traffic, which will safe their travelling time and they can get more quality time to spend with their families. A clear example of this can be younger generation who prefer to stay in large cities because apartment provide several benefits to their residents such as parking space and maintenance. Also, young people find it more convenient and best standard way of living.

Another significant reason is saving land for natural resources. Although, member of society are already conserving our resources, which reducing the environmental pollution. Similarly, building tall apartments instead of independent home will provide the opportunity to government to plant more plants on earth. Studies has shown that planting more trees comes with several health benefits which helps the environment and human stay healthy. These all given merits support the statement very well.

In conclusion, I strongly agree with the statement because by constructing tall apartment provide many advantages such as convenience, saving travelling time, providing more land for planting trees. All these points strongly support the viewpoint.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the extent of agreement with building tall apartment blocks to provide urban housing. The writer clearly states an opinion in the introduction and reiterates it in the conclusion. Main ideas such as convenience, proximity to workplaces, and preserving land for green spaces are presented, but their development is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on saving land for natural resources mentions planting trees and health benefits, but remains general rather than being fully extended with specific real-world examples. Consequently, the task response aligns best with Band 6, as all parts are addressed with relevant ideas, but some points lack the depth and thorough development required for higher bands.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure consisting of an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Logical progression is attempted using cohesive devices such as 'One of the major key factor', 'Another significant reason', and 'In conclusion'. However, cohesion is occasionally faulty or mechanical. For instance, there are referencing and transitional issues, such as 'Although, member of society are already conserving our resources, which reducing the environmental pollution', where punctuation and clause connection disrupt the flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct arguments, but the overall mechanical nature of the transitional phrases places this performance firmly in Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as 'convenience', 'environmental pollution', and 'natural resources'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations throughout the text. Examples include 'consume quite lesser area', 'major key factor' (redundancy), and 'independent home' instead of 'independent houses' or 'detached houses'. Additionally, word formation errors appear, such as 'safe their travelling time' instead of 'save'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0, as the control over less common vocabulary lacks precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional or subordinate clauses like 'If individuals who are working within the cities, providing home close to their office is more flexible and convenient.' However, this sentence suffers from a dangling modifier and grammatical awkwardness. Frequent grammatical and punctuation errors occur throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues in 'Studies has shown' and 'apartment provide several benefits'. Articles are also occasionally misused. Although the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of structural inaccuracies and non-error-free sentences prevents the writing from achieving a Band 6, placing it at Band 5.0.

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

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