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)

The construction of tall building blocks is a better way to provide sufficient homes to population in a developing countries. I strongly agree with this perspective, because they are constructed in a specific place and provide space to significant number of families, which are are cheaper and easily manageable for low-income society.

Most of the community from rural area relocating to urban area for better facilities easily avialable in developing cities. So, i believe construction of tall apartments give homes to many families in one specific place, consequently there will be no need for making homes in different parts of city. The apartments can easily be find in the centre of city, however you can not find any plot to build a house in the city centre. For instance, Young adults move to urban area from rural for better education can easily reside in city centre near to the institutions.

Most people move to city from rural area are usually have low social-economic background. From my perspective, it is a good option for them to reside in apartment, because apartment are cheaper rather then any plot and easily manageable with their spending. Such as plots in developing area is much expensive then non-developed area, even though their taxes are also very high, so renting or having an apartment is cost friendly. The one building can provide home to lot of families.

In conclusion, tall apartments provide enough homes to population in big cities. I believe it is better option cause of effective cost to lower economy with better location in city.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by taking a clear and consistent position in favor of building tall apartment blocks to solve housing shortages in developing countries. The arguments focus on efficient land use, affordability, and central locations suitable for students and low-income families. However, the development of these ideas remains somewhat limited and repetitive, particularly in the third paragraph where the points about financial savings echo the previous discussion. While all parts of the task are addressed, the support lacks full extension and relies on general assertions rather than robust, specific examples. This performance aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a logical overall arrangement, opening with an introduction that states the writer's position, followed by body paragraphs supporting this stance, and concluding summarily. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'For instance,' 'Consequently,' and 'In conclusion,' though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or are used inaccurately, such as 'however you can not find' to introduce contrast. Paragraphing is present to separate distinct points, but referencing and logical progression occasionally falter, leading to some choppy transitions between sentences. This reflects the characteristics of a Band 6 performance.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the writer's ideas about urban housing and costs. There are attempts to use less common items such as 'socio-economic background' and 'cost friendly,' but these are offset by frequent lexical inaccuracies, awkward word choices, and grammatical errors in collocation, such as 'significant number of families' lacking an article, 'easily be find' instead of 'found,' and 'much expensive' instead of 'much more expensive.' Spelling and word formation errors also occur ('avialable,' 'cause' instead of 'because'). These limitations place the vocabulary firmly at Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('Most people move... are usually have'), incorrect passive voice constructions ('can easily be find'), and article omissions ('population in a developing countries'). While communication is generally maintained despite these errors, the high frequency of non-systematic structural mistakes prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. This corresponds to a Band 5 level.

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

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