Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

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 undeniable that the construction of tall apartment blocks is the best ways to provide sufficient houses in large cities. I strongly agree with this statement because of over-population, better area management, good facilities, and fulfilling the requirements.

At the outset, the most obvious reason for this is having sufficient area to live for nuclear families. In large cities, the people usually rent a place for job opportunities or buy an apartment for living with their families. Usually, they need an area of two bedrooms, a kitchen and an attaches washroom. Thus, these requirements can be easily fulfilled by a single room in the apartment. Hence, the small-size apartments are the best choice for both the employers and the families living in the urban areas. For instance, employers can rent these apartments at affordable prices rather than renting a big house taking up a large area or the young people can live alone in those flats.

Secondly, the apartments are more suitable in the overpopulation. In urban areas, the general populace is high due to various factors such as more opportunities, convenience and higher standard of living. So, in such areas living in the apartments are suitable, as in such a way more individuals can live in that area, providing a solution to this trouble. Also, it is easy for people to live at same place while they are working at same office. For instance, the boss provides apartments to his employees in the same block, making it easy for them to commute together as well as purchasing that properties.

In conclusion, living in tall apartments are the most suitable options for the people as well as a solution to the other issues like over-population and high rates of the big houses. As they not only help with the optimization of area, but also with the requirements of the young generation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt directly, presenting a clear position in favour of building tall apartment blocks to provide sufficient housing. Ideas are presented and supported with examples, such as renting apartments for job opportunities and commuting convenience. However, some arguments lack deep development and border on over-generalisation, such as the claim that bosses routinely provide apartments in the same block for employees. Furthermore, the introduction contains a grammatical error ('is the best ways') and a slight mechanical list of reasons ('over-population, better area management, good facilities, and fulfilling the requirements') that are not all subsequently explored. These minor omissions and underdeveloped areas place this response solidly at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, moving from an introduction to two body paragraphs and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to structure the response, such as 'At the outset', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, the transition 'Secondly, the apartments are more suitable in the overpopulation' is awkward and imprecise. Additionally, referencing pronouns like 'those flats' or 'same place' occasionally lacks absolute clarity within the broader flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but overall progression suffers slightly from abrupt logical leaps between sentences, warranting a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'over-population', 'urban areas', 'optimization of area', and 'affordable prices'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are sometimes accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'attaches washroom' instead of 'attached washroom', 'general populace is high' instead of 'population density is high', and 'purchasing that properties' instead of 'purchasing those properties'. Spelling and word-choice errors occur, but they do not impede communication, matching the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. Examples of successful complex structures include 'In large cities, the people usually rent a place for job opportunities or buy an apartment for living with their families.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('is the best ways', 'living in the apartments are suitable', 'living in tall apartments are'), article misuse ('in the overpopulation'), and preposition errors. Although these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede communication, aligning with the requirements for a Band 6.0 score.

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

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