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 issue involving adequate housing is a debatable issue globally.Due to rapid increase in population having enough space to house everybody has become a challenge to most governments.While others are of the view that the construction of tall apartment blocks is a soultion to providing enough homes for citizens I have contrasting views.

I believe there is more to providing a place that feels like home than just to place people in some sort of shelter without considering what they value as contributing factors to a safe and conjucive environment for raising their families.

Story buidings have a lot of disadvantages ,they lack privacy ,families are forced to interact against their will because they might have to share a balcony,garden laundry space or garden space. This becomes a challenge particularly when families who find themselves in these shared in these shared spaces having contraicting culture and values.For instance when religion beiefs clash it can lead to misunderstanding for example some cultures burn incense everyday in their backyards while christians would equate the same practise evil or witchcraft.

However some people are of the view that having tall buildings will go a long way to ensure everyone gets a descent place to stay because they can accomodate a lot of people on a small piece of land because one building will have a lot of flats maybe up to 50 units where under normal circumstances 5 houses only could be accomodated.

It will also bring a sense of community because everyone will be familiar with each otherwhich creates a sense of community and makes a place feel like home.

In conclusion I acknowlege the few bwnefits offered by building story blocks but I strongly stand with my believe that everyone must have their own standalone house so that they can enjoy their privacy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses the task by stating a clear position against tall apartment blocks, providing arguments related to privacy, cultural clashes, and community living. However, the development of ideas is somewhat uneven. While the point about privacy and cultural misunderstandings is extended with an example regarding religious beliefs, the counter-arguments and subsequent points are rather brief. The conclusion mentions that the writer 'strongly stand[s] with my believe', ensuring the position remains clear throughout. Because all parts of the prompt are addressed and a distinct stance is maintained, this performance aligns closely with the Band 6 descriptors, where relevant ideas are presented, though some aspects require further elaboration and clearer organisation to reach a higher tier.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates an overall logical flow, moving from the introduction to arguments against tall buildings, a brief counter-perspective, and a final conclusion. However, paragraphing and cohesive devices require better control. For instance, the fourth paragraph begins abruptly and lacks appropriate transitional markers. There are also formatting and spacing issues, such as missing spaces after periods (e.g., 'each otherwhich', 'everyday in'), which distract the reader. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or omitted entirely. Paragraphing is used, but grouping ideas could be more effective—specifically, separating the counter-argument from the main body paragraphs more clearly. These features place the response firmly at Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as 'rapid increase in population' and 'contrasting views'. However, there are notable spelling errors and word-form inaccuracies throughout the text, including 'soultion' for solution, 'Story buidings' for storey buildings, 'conjucive' for conducive, 'contraicting' for contradicting, 'beiefs' for beliefs, 'practise' for practice, and 'descent' for decent. These lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'shared in these shared spaces', indicate a limited control of word choice and spelling. Although communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of errors prevents the response from achieving a Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent punctuation and structural errors. There are numerous missing spaces after full stops and commas, run-on sentences, and issues with subject-verb agreement or prepositional use (e.g., 'The issue involving adequate housing is a debatable issue', 'just to place people'). Articles are occasionally omitted, and verb forms show lapses (e.g., 'stand with my believe' instead of belief). While simple sentences are generally understandable, complex structures are frequently faulty, leading to issues that cause occasional difficulty for the reader. This corresponds to a Band 5 score for grammar.

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