Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-18

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)

Many people believe that by building tall appartment blocks will be the best way to provide homes in large cities. I vehemently agree with notion that tall building appartments are very important in large cities.

One major advantage of tall apartment buildings is that they make efficient use of limited urban land. In densely populated cities, land is often expensive and difficult to obtain. Building upwards allows developers to provide hundreds of homes without occupying large areas of land. For example, a single high-rise building can accommodate far more families than a group of low-rise houses built on the same plot. This can help cities deal with population growth while protecting land that could otherwise be used for parks or other public facilities.

Another benefit is that high-rise developments can make public services and transportation more efficient. When many residents live in the same area, governments can provide infrastructure such as public transport, water and electricity more efficiently. In addition, people living in apartment blocks may have easier access to workplaces, schools and shopping centres, particularly when high-rise housing is constructed close to existing urban facilities.

the inexorable discussion on this subject matter can keep on going but observing the finer nuance and keeping a deep reverence/veneration to the facts, I would like to espouse my notion building tall appartment blocks plays vital role in today's world.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt directly, presenting a clear position that agrees with the statement. The student identifies key advantages of tall apartment blocks, such as efficient use of urban land and better public infrastructure provision. However, the response has a few notable limitations. First, it fails to meet the minimum word count requirement, containing only 227 words instead of the required 250 words, which incurs a penalty on the task achievement score. Additionally, the development of ideas in the body paragraphs is somewhat brief and could be extended further with more specific examples or deeper exploration. Despite these shortcomings, all parts of the prompt are addressed with a consistent position. This corresponds to a band score of 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a clear overall progression. Ideas are organized into distinct paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by two well-focused body paragraphs discussing land efficiency and public services, and concluding with a summary statement. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, with transition phrases such as 'One major advantage' and 'Another benefit'. However, the conclusion contains awkward phrasing ('the inexorable discussion on this subject matter can keep on going') that disrupts the flow and reveals mechanical referencing. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, but the lack of a fully developed conclusion keeps the score at this level. This performance aligns well with a band score of 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic discussion, including terms like 'densely populated', 'infrastructure', and 'inexorable'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors, such as 'appartment' used multiple times instead of 'apartment', and stylistic issues with overly ornate or unnatural phrasing in the conclusion, such as 'keeping a deep reverence/veneration to the facts'. Furthermore, repetition of words like 'large cities' and 'efficient' limits lexical flexibility. While the vocabulary is adequate to communicate the main points, these inaccuracies in spelling and word choice prevent the response from achieving a higher band. This earns a band score of 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. For instance, relative clauses and conditional-like structures are attempted effectively in sentences such as 'Building upwards allows developers to provide hundreds of homes without occupying large areas of land.' However, there are significant grammatical errors, most notably in the opening sentence: 'Many people believe that by building tall appartment blocks will be the best way...', which contains a structural flaw due to the unnecessary inclusion of 'by'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical slips in complex clauses prevent a higher rating. This corresponds to a band score of 6.0.

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