Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16
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)
The topic of creating space by builing taller building in cities to house more people is a quite trending one which has caught the attention of many people.
On the one hand, building tall apartments in cities helps beautify it by creating aesthetically pleasant sights especially at night time and creates more homes without taking more lands, it puts one at the centre of shops, schools, worship centre without having to drive far.
On the other hand, it creates a sense of congestion especially on the environment--in terms of traffic in the city, Noise pollution, little or non parking spaces available. Risks of fall from the balcony for children and the elderly as well as a suitable location for people with suicidal thoughts.
Although i it is a great idea to house a lot of people whilst occupying the same land, i prefer to disagree as there are other parts of the cities that are developing and still under devloped.The government and Private owners should look into buying or building homes away from the crowd as there are a lot of benefits such as Privacy, a serene environment, less pollution and experiencing nature which helps to boost mental health.
In conclusion, Bui
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of building tall apartment blocks in cities, and it clearly states a personal position of disagreement. However, the task achievement is significantly undermined by two major issues. First, the essay is incomplete, breaking off mid-sentence at the conclusion ('In conclusion, Bui'). Second, the length requirement has not been met, as the text contains only 202 words, falling well short of the 250-word minimum. Because the ideas are underdeveloped and the essay is severely under-length, this criterion falls into Band 4.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The student attempts to organise the essay using traditional transition markers such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. However, the overall structure breaks down due to the abrupt and incomplete ending of the response. Paragraphing is attempted, but the paragraphs vary greatly in length and logical progression is disrupted by the truncation of the text. Cohesive devices are occasionally used, but referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the ambiguous pronoun use in 'helps beautify it'. Due to the lack of a proper conclusion and structural fragmentation, the essay merits a Band 5 for coherence and cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some topic-related terms such as 'aesthetically pleasant', 'congestion', 'noise pollution', and 'suicidal thoughts'. However, there are notable lexical errors, word-form issues, and typos throughout the text, including 'builing' instead of building, 'devloped' instead of developed, and awkward collocations like 'non parking spaces'. While the vocabulary allows the writer to convey basic ideas, the noticeable errors and restricted range place this criterion firmly at Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some ambition with subordinate clauses such as 'without having to drive far' and 'although it is a great idea'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring punctuation errors, capitalization issues (e.g., 'i prefer to disagree'), and missing articles. The sentence 'Although i it is a great idea' contains a duplicated word error, and the grammar breaks down entirely in the final sentence. Because frequent errors occur and the range of structures is limited, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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