Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-14

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)

There has been a drastic increase in the population in recent years. This has let to debates, on how to accomodate such a large number of people.

Some individuals believe, the most realistic way to accomodate the increase in population is to build tall apartments with numerous blocks. According to them this will fill a small space with a large number of people comfortably. An apartment requires a fairly smaller space compared to houses or banglows. It also provides each family with their own private space, something which is not seen in shared spaced houses. An apartment also comes with its own set of benefits. This includes a close sense of community. A shared space such as parking lots, elavators or walking area brings neighbours a lot closer than any meetups.

However, another way to have enough homes in cities, is to encourage people to distribute evenly across other cities by introducing incentives there. The biggest motivating factor is to provide jobs in other cities. This will naturally incline them to move out, clearing space for others. Another way is to intoduce better educational and healthcare facillities, elsewhere. Both services attract of lot of people.

I believe that building apartments is not an effective way to provide enough homes. While it may seem it solves the problem, it only creates bigger ones. A denser population in a specific city would mean a compromise in other services. It will increase traffic congestion. Entertainment areas such as cafes and parks would be overcrowded. Thus an ideal solution is to spread out people in different cities evenly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt directly by discussing whether tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide homes in large cities. You present a clear position in the final paragraph where you disagree with the prompt, arguing instead for population decentralisation. While your main arguments are relevant, the ideas could be developed further with more specific examples. For instance, mentioning specific infrastructure pressures or realistic decentralisation incentives would strengthen your case. You cover the main task parts adequately, but the conclusion introduces the counter-argument and your stance somewhat late in the essay rather than integrating it smoothly throughout. This performance aligns well with Band 6.0 descriptors, where the task is addressed, but some ideas remain slightly under-developed or general.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement, with a logical flow from introducing the topic, discussing the views on apartments, exploring alternatives, and finally stating your own position. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct ideas, such as the benefits of apartments in paragraph two and alternative solutions in paragraph three. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally faulty or mechanical. For example, the sentence starter 'According to them this will...' lacks punctuation, and referencing words like 'This includes...' or 'Both services attract of lot of people' have minor cohesion and punctuation flaws. Paragraph transitions could also be smoother to guide the reader effortlessly through your arguments. Consequently, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

Your vocabulary range is adequate for the task, allowing you to discuss urbanization and housing effectively using terms like 'population', 'infrastructure', 'congestion', and 'incentives'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'accomodate' instead of 'accommodate', 'let' instead of 'led', 'banglows' instead of 'bungaloes or houses', 'elavators' instead of 'elevators', and 'facillities' instead of 'facilities'. You attempt less common vocabulary such as 'decentralisation' conceptually, but these spelling inaccuracies and occasional awkward collocations prevent the lexical score from reaching Band 7.0. The errors do not impede overall communication, supporting a solid Band 6.0 rating.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like 'While it may seem it solves the problem, it only creates bigger ones.' There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors present in the text, such as unnecessary comma splices ('This has let to debates, on how to...', 'Some individuals believe, the most realistic...') and typographical mistakes. Despite these issues, the majority of simple sentences are clear, and your complex structures do not obscure your overall meaning. Communication is rarely impeded by these errors. This blend of grammatical control and frequent minor inaccuracies matches the Band 6.0 descriptors closely.

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

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