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)

In the present context, poplulation has been increasing rapidly which directly lead to the shortage of shelther and better job opportunities. The living cost is also increasing and people all over the world try to get better facility and move in city area. This lead to the shortage of homes for the peole. I firmly believe that building tall apartment block is the best way to provide homes in large cities area.

The city area is already conjusted and building even more new homes for every family can dramtically affect both government and the citizens. Everyone wants to have their own home and move in city area either for better job opportunitiies or for study purposes. People living in city area earn double the money compared to countryside. This habit leads to the shortage of homes for migrated people. If tall apartments are built then more amount of people can live in the specific area.Many well developed countries have tall apartments to fit the over populated citizens.

The other main reason why i believe in building tall apartment is that it will be affordable compared to building a single storey house. The cost of land in city area is expensive. It might drain an individual whole life saving. For instance, my uncle spend his whole saving in building a home. Right now, he have no money and have to ask for other people to lend money for the operation of his wife. On the other hand, my father moved smartly. We are living in an apartment in an afforadble price and can afford surgery if anything hapopns to our family member.

In a nut shell, building tall apartment not only solves the problem of shortage of house but it is also very affordable for middle class family too. The land can be used in making public parks and playgrounds in every society. People does not need to compromise in their future and lifestyles.

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 stance that building tall apartment blocks is the best solution for providing homes in large cities. The writer introduces relevant ideas, such as high land costs in urban areas and the need to accommodate a growing population efficiently. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat superficial and relies on repetitive assertions rather than fully extended arguments. For instance, the personal anecdote about the uncle and father is used to support affordability, but it occupies disproportionate space relative to broader urban planning considerations. While the position is clear throughout, the main body paragraphs could benefit from deeper exploration of alternative solutions or broader socio-economic impacts to fully satisfy higher band descriptors. Overall, the task is adequately addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into four paragraphs, following a standard introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There is an overall logical progression, moving from the problem of urbanization to the benefits of high-rise living, and finally to economic affordability and land use. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the other hand', 'For instance', and 'In a nut shell', though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or simplistic. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, separating the introduction, distinct supportive arguments, and conclusion. However, referencing and logical flow occasionally falter, such as the abrupt transition between sentences in the first two paragraphs, which slightly disrupts the smooth reading of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'urbanization', 'overpopulated', 'affordability', and 'middle-class family'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'poplulation', 'shelther', 'conjusted', 'dramtically', and 'afforadble'. These errors indicate a lack of precision and control over less common lexical items. While the meaning is generally clear despite these inaccuracies, the repetitive use of basic vocabulary and persistent spelling mistakes prevent the response from achieving a higher band score in this category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using conditional clauses ('If tall apartments are built then...') and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, and articles (e.g., 'lead' instead of 'led', 'the peole', 'people does not need'). For example, the sentence 'Right now, he have no money and have to ask...' contains basic agreement errors. Punctuation and capitalization are also inconsistent in places. These frequent grammatical slips occasionally distract the reader, though they rarely impede overall communication.

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

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