Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19

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)

I partly agree. Tall apartment blocks are an effective way to provide housing in large cities, but they should not be the only solution. Large cities have rapidly growing population. And tall apartment buildings can provide many homes in a limited area.

Tall apartment blocks can provide a large number of homes while saving land. In large cities lands in limited and expensive meanwhile in tall buildings upwards allow more people to live in the same area. High rise apartment can accommodate hundreds of families because in tall building there is floors upward so many families can lives. Tall building can built near public transport, schools and workplaces. They can reduce long commuting distance. For example, Cities such as Singapore or Hong Kong have many high-rise residential buildings because available land is limited.

High-rise buildings can create problems if they are poorly planned. They may put pressure on roads, public transport and other services. Residents may have less private outdoor space. A city could build many apartment towers, but if it does not increase schools, hospitals, roads and public transport, residents may face congestion and overcrowding. Therefore, simply constructing more towers does not necessarily solve the housing problem unless sufficient infrastructure is provided.

In conclusion, I agree that tall apartment blocks are an effective way to provide housing in densely populated cities because they use limited land efficiently. However, I do not believe they should be the only solution, as cities also need suitable infrastructure, green spaces and other types of housing.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task, presenting a clear position that the student partly agrees with the prompt. The main ideas are relevant and supported by logical arguments and examples, such as referencing Singapore and Hong Kong to illustrate space constraints and mentioning necessary infrastructure like schools and transport. While the ideas are clearly presented, the development is somewhat concise in places, and some generalisations are present, such as in the opening paragraph where sentences like 'Large cities have rapidly growing population' are brief. Overall, the response meets the criteria for Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 for its clear position and well-reasoned arguments regarding both the benefits and potential pitfalls of high-rise developments.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas from the introduction, through the benefits and drawbacks paragraphs, to the conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct aspect of the prompt. Cohesive devices are generally handled adequately, using words like 'however', 'therefore', and 'in conclusion'. However, referencing and transitions are at times a bit mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent repetition of phrase starters like 'Tall apartment blocks' and 'High-rise buildings'. There are also minor cohesion slips between sentences, keeping the response firmly at a Band 6.0 level for this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using topic-specific terms such as 'infrastructure', 'densely populated', 'congestion', and 'overcrowding'. There are, however, several word-choice, collocation, and grammatical form errors throughout the text, such as 'lands in limited' instead of 'land is limited', 'in tall building there is floors upward', and 'can built' instead of 'can be built'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they reflect the typical constraints of a Band 6 vocabulary profile where attempts at less common lexical items are accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating the ability to construct conditional-like logic and subordinate clauses, as seen in 'if it does not increase schools... residents may face congestion'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent basic errors, including missing plural markers ('rapidly growing population' instead of 'populations'), missing auxiliary verbs ('can lives'), and incorrect prepositions or passive voice structures ('lands in limited', 'can built'). Because these errors persist across the text and require some effort to parse in places, the performance aligns best with Band 5.5.

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

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