Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Overpopulation is becoming a huge global problem, which affects not only small villages or tiny towns, but also large cities. Governments are seeking an answer for this question: "How can we fit more houses in one city?" Many people had shared their ideas, but almost all of them got rejected. But one idea is not just strong, it's reasonable.

"The best way to provide enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks." "Why not?" people would say, but not only logic matters.

This question needs critical analysis, and based on it, we can critisize the idea:

Firstly, if buildings become higher, then the earthquakes become more dangerous. Larger houses provide bigger smashes and crashes. After that, population and the living rate of people in that specific town is gonna fall, which will completely destroy the inner peace in the town.

Secondly, too much of workers will be encouraged to do more work, which's gonna lead country to spend more of the government's budget.

And lastly, people need to get used to live in much higher levels. And they won't do it after 10 years, 20 and even 30, because person is not constant. Once he lives on the first floor, it's gonna be hard to live on the tenth floor. And it's only about one person, while large cities contain more that 5 million people.

As a summary, the best way to provide more homes to people in the large cities isn't found yet. But the solutions became better than previous ones, so we're gonna find it out it soon.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt regarding whether tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide housing in large cities, establishing a clear position of disagreement. However, the development of ideas is limited and sometimes illogical. For instance, the argument that taller buildings make earthquakes more dangerous is simplistic and lacks supporting evidence. Similarly, the point regarding government budgets and workers is underdeveloped and unclear. While the writer attempts to discuss the psychological impact of living on higher floors, the ideas remain somewhat superficial. To achieve a higher band score, the writer needs to extend arguments with more realistic, well-reasoned examples and maintain a more academic tone throughout the response, avoiding conversational asides.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text is organized into paragraphs with basic organizational markers such as "Firstly," "Secondly," and "And lastly," providing a rudimentary structure. However, the overall progression is somewhat disjointed. The introduction relies on rhetorical questions and conversational fragments that disrupt the logical flow. Paragraphing is used, but some paragraphs consist of single sentences or very abrupt transitions. Cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or misused, such as starting consecutive sentences with conversational conjunctions like "And". While the reader can follow the general drift of the argument, the cohesive framework lacks the flexibility and sophistication required for higher bands.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for communicating basic ideas, but it lacks the range and precision needed for an academic essay. The writer employs some less common vocabulary items like "critisize" (which contains a spelling error) and "overpopulation," but relies heavily on repetitive or simplistic terms such as "huge global problem" and "bigger smashes and crashes." There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as "living rate" instead of standard demographic or living standard terms, and "too much of workers." These lexical inaccuracies do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the response to a modest band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but the range is limited and control is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ("too much of workers will be encouraged") and awkward phrasing ("because person is not constant"). Punctuation and spelling also contain flaws, notably the misspelling of "critisize". While simple sentences are generally understandable, attempts at more complex structures frequently result in awkwardness or ungrammatical constructions that cause some difficulty for the reader.

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

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