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)

It is often argued that the best method to provide a large quantity of housing in urban areas is to build tall apartment blocks rather than single-story houses. From my perspective, I strongly believe that in the modern era to control the rapidly growing population in urban cities it is essential to construct tall apartments blocks.

First and foremost, the government should construct tall apartment blocks which leads to require a sufficient amount to establish to to these projects. For instance, tall buildings enhance the residential issue such as in a single- story house all expenses are the responsibility of a single man. In addition it is a more difficult situation to manage all the things. Furthermore, in a single-story house, individuals and elders suffer a loneliness and depression due to no gathering.

Furthermore, tall buildings could be a risk of disasters like natural accidents and noise pollution. Too much noise pollution creates a disturbance for elder people. Because they want a peaceful environment in old age. As compared to single apartments provide a peacefui environment for elder people. It is beneficial for their mental health. For instance, elderly people cannot use the stairs because their physical health condition does not allow them.

In conclusion, some people argue this issue. In my opinion, I contend that the government and authorities should plan to construct tall apartment blocks in urban cities. In this way, they can control the environmental degradation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the benefits and drawbacks of tall apartment blocks, but the arguments are confused and lack clear development. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains only 239 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum. The position is stated in the introduction, but the body paragraphs contain contradictory ideas and vague examples. For instance, the second paragraph mentions that single-story houses cause loneliness, while the third paragraph suddenly argues that tall buildings cause noise pollution and that single-story apartments provide a peaceful environment, which actually contradicts the student's stated stance in favor of tall blocks. Because of the under-length penalty and the under-developed, contradictory arguments, this response aligns with Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into paragraphs, including an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing some basic organisation. However, there is a lack of overall progression due to contradictory arguments between paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'First and foremost', 'In addition', and 'Furthermore', but they are sometimes applied mechanically or inaccurately, such as the awkward transition 'which leads to require a sufficient amount to establish to to these projects'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, making the logical relationship between sentences difficult to follow. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal flow of ideas is disjointed. These features place the response firmly at Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication but limited in range and precision. The student attempts some less common phrases like 'rapidly growing population' and 'environmental degradation', but there are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'residential issue' instead of 'housing problem', and 'natural accidents' instead of 'natural disasters'. Repetition of basic words like 'single-story house' and 'tall apartment blocks' is frequent. While the reader can generally understand the main points, the lexical errors and limited vocabulary variety restrict the score to Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response displays a limited range of grammatical structures. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, they are often faulty or incomplete, such as in the sentence beginning with 'First and foremost, the government should construct tall apartment blocks which leads to require...'. Grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'individuals and elders suffer a loneliness' and prepositions errors like 'suffer a loneliness and depression due to no gathering'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but frequent structural errors cause some difficulty and strain for the reader, which corresponds to a Band 5 performance.

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

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