Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-17

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)

Some people thinks that if you want to provide enough homes in large cities, you have to build tall apartments. While, it can provide a solution to overpopulation in big cities but i totally disagree with this statement. The reason is that, if you built so many homes in a single apartment, then those houses will be very congested. People will face difficulty to reach upper portions if there is no lift, especially old age peole. The 2nd reason is that, these type of buildings are very vulnerable to disasters like earthquake.

Building tall apartments to adjust enough homes can be a solution to increasing population, but when you build so much houses in a single appartment, the homes in appartment become so congested. This type of appartments becomes over crowded and you will lose your peace day by day. People can also find it very difficult to reach their upper portions and if there is no lift available, then it becomes almost impossible for elder people to walk out of their building. The prime example is Okocha building in china where hundreds of homes are bulit in a single apartment and their people face same issues every day. These buildings are also vulnerable to different disasters.

When you build such type of apartment, then they can be easily affected by natural disasters like earthquakes and the reason is that, their foundations are very weak and can be easily destroyed by natural disasters. For example, in our city, there was a 15 portion appartment. In last summer, it fell to the ground due to earthquake of 6.2 magnitude.

If we conclude this, I think tall appartment is not a solution to overpopulation in large cities because it can lead to some devastating consequences.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses the prompt by clearly stating their disagreement with the idea that tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide homes in large cities. A position is maintained throughout the response, supported by arguments regarding congestion, accessibility issues for elderly people, and structural vulnerability to earthquakes. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive, with the second body paragraph largely reiterating points made in the introduction and first paragraph. The example provided of the Okocha building is somewhat vague, and the second example lacks precise attribution. Because the main parts of the prompt are addressed with a clear stance, the response reaches Band 5.5 to Band 6.0 territory, ultimately fitting best at Band 5.5 due to under-developed and repetitive reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response shows some basic organization with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief concluding sentence. However, overall progression is hindered by heavy repetition between paragraphs. Paragraphing is attempted, but the division of ideas lacks precision, resulting in overlapping arguments about congestion and disasters. Cohesive devices are minimal and basic (e.g., 'While, it can provide...', 'The reason is that', 'For example'). Pronoun referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'and their people', 'when you build such type of apartment, then they can be easily affected'). There is no clear overall logical progression across the text, which keeps the score at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive throughout the essay. Words like 'homes', 'apartment', 'cities', and 'disasters' are used repeatedly without much variation. There are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'Some people thinks' (agreement error, though grammatical), 'adjust enough homes' (incorrect collocation for 'accommodate'), 'so much houses' (incorrect quantifier usage), '15 portion appartment' (misuse of 'portion' instead of 'storey' or 'floor'), and frequent spelling errors like 'appartment'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic message, the frequent errors and limited range restrict the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'While it can provide a solution... but I totally disagree', 'if you built so many homes... then those houses will be very congested'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement ('Some people thinks', 'building become', 'appartment becomes'), tense usage ('if you built', 'were bulit'), and article/pluralisation errors ('elder people', 'such type of apartment', 'a 15 portion appartment'). Punctuation is also faulty, particularly with unnecessary commas ('The reason is that, if you built...'). These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar at Band 5.0.

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