Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

Housing is a great issue nowadays and it is a hot topic of debate nowadays that how to accommodate people more efficiently in big cites. People think that tall apartment blocks are the most efficient way of accomodating a large number of people while acquiring less land. From my perspective, apartment blocks are a great way of accommodating large number of people they come with some issues which we need to solve.

The most benefical thing about apartment blocks is that a large number of people can be residing in a single block while less land is acquired. By building tall towers instead of building seprate houses, land can be saved and used for other purposes. As the population is increasing, we need more land which is often obtained by deforestation which comes with a lot of negative affects on climate and contributes to global warming. This can be prevented through building apartment blocks. Besides the environmental benefits, apartment blocks come with some social benefits. Instead of a small neigbourhood, people residing apartment have a big neighbourhood resluting in a number of social activities like celebrating festivals. This community is beneficial in many ways for example if a person gets sick, his/her neighbours take care of him/her. People often cook dishes and send it to each other as a gesture of hospitality.

Besides all the positive aspects people often ignore the negative aspects of living in apartment blocks. A great concern while living in apartment blocks is safety from natural disasters for example fire, earthquake. It has been observed repeatedly that people living in apartment blocks often get stuck in case of fire or earthquake which results in number of casualties. Recently 30 poeple died of suffocation as they got stuck in their apartments when a fire broke out. However, these incidents happen usually due to the negligence of apartment builders and management. In order to save cost contractors often use cheap materials in building and it results in a sudden collapse during earthquake. On the other hand, negligence by management often caueses more casualities as they ignore safety concerns which turn out to be an accident. The most recent example of this negligence was seen in PIMS Islamabad where about 15 newborns lost their lives.

In conclusion, apartment blocks are agreat solution to accommodate people especially considering the increasing population but the safety measures should be kept in mind both while building and managing these apartments. The contractors should build structures capable of surviving possible earthquakes and they should provide emergency exits for people residing there. On the other hand the management should keep a proper check and balance of emergency exits and kits like fire extinguishers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by taking a clear, nuanced position that tall apartment blocks are beneficial for accommodating growing urban populations and saving land, while also acknowledging significant safety concerns. The student extends and supports ideas well, discussing environmental benefits such as reducing deforestation and social advantages like community bonding. The counter-argument regarding safety hazards like fires and earthquakes is also explored with examples, although the inclusion of a hospital incident (PIMS Islamabad) slightly diverges from residential housing blocks. Overall, the ideas are well-developed and present a clear stance throughout, fitting the Band 7 requirements well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus: an introduction with a clear thesis, environmental and social benefits in the second paragraph, safety concerns in the third, and a summary conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Besides', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used effectively to guide the reader, although paragraphing could be slightly refined since the third paragraph handles multiple distinct ideas (fires, earthquakes, and hospital negligence). Referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression remains coherent.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating less common terms such as 'accomodating', 'deforestation', 'casualities', and 'negligence'. However, there are several spelling and typographical errors throughout the text, including 'cites' instead of 'cities', 'accomodating' (misspelled initially), 'benefical', 'neigbourhood', 'resluting', 'caueses', and 'agreat'. While these errors do not impede communication, their frequency prevents the score from reaching a higher band. Word choices are generally appropriate for conveying meaning, but greater precision and accuracy are needed.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating the ability to construct conditional and relative clauses (e.g., 'As the population is increasing, we need more land which is often obtained...'). There are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors, such as missing articles ('living in apartment' instead of 'living in apartments'), tense issues, and run-on structures. For instance, 'apartment blocks are a great way of accommodating large number of people they come with some issues' contains a run-on error. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear and communication is rarely impeded, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 category.

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