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)

Tall apartment blocks must be build to provide enough homes in bigger urban areas. In many big cities finding afordable housing is quite difficult. I mostly agree with this statement because high buidings save the space.

firstly, building tall apartments is highly effective in crowded cities. The biggest problem in cities is that the land are very limited and expensive. By building high apartment thousands people can stay in small piece of land. For example, cities like singapore have tall buildings where millions of residents live. Additionally when people live in such apartment it can much cheaper and easier for government to provide public services like water, electricity, etc.

Secondly, relying on tall buidings can start new problems. If many people live in one area than the road become congested creating traffic in that place. local areas like hospital, parks also become overcrowded. Furthermore living in such highrise buildings can make people feel isolated and lonely at the same times because there are fewer communities. Therefore, government should also build houses in small area in country side with better facilities of transportation that can connect the otherside of the country so people can commute eaily witj each other.

In conclusion, building tall buildings and apartment seems to be an excellent and necessary odeas to create enough homes in big cities . However, it works better only when the government also plans good public transport like buses, trains which can prevent certain areas becoming less crowded which helps people to lead a happy and healthy life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout. The writer agrees that tall apartment blocks are necessary for providing urban housing, while also acknowledging potential drawbacks like traffic congestion and social isolation, and proposing a complementary solution regarding rural development and transport. Ideas are generally extended and supported, such as mentioning Singapore as an example of high-density living. However, some arguments remain slightly under-developed, and the conclusion introduces new ideas about rural transport rather than strictly summarising the main points. Despite these minor limitations, the main aspects of the prompt are well covered, fitting the criteria for a Band 6.5 or 7.0. Given the clear positioning and relevant examples, a Band 6.0 is well supported because some parts, such as the counter-arguments and solutions, could be explored with greater depth and precision.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical organisation. The essay is divided into distinct paragraphs, each with a discernible focus, starting with an introduction, moving to advantages, then disadvantages, and finishing with a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions between ideas, such as "firstly", "Additionally", "Secondly", and "In conclusion". However, some referencing is slightly imprecise, and cohesion can occasionally feel mechanical or forced. Paragraphing is utilised correctly to separate distinct themes. While the logical flow is mostly clear, a few cohesive links are repetitive or slightly awkward, aligning the response with a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common terms such as "urban areas", "afordable housing", "congested", "overcrowded", and "isolated". However, there are notable spelling errors ("build" instead of built, "afordable", "buidings", "thousand people", "singapore", "ideas", "eaily", "witj") and minor word choice or morphological issues. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not impeded, and the intended meaning remains clear throughout the essay. Because the vocabulary range is sufficient but marred by persistent spelling and slip-of-the-pen errors, a Band 6.0 is appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional and relative clauses, such as "Additionally when people live in such apartment it can much cheaper and easier..." and "...that can connect the otherside of the country so people can commute eaily...". However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly missing articles ("build houses in small area in country side"), subject-verb agreement issues ("the road become"), and missing copula verbs ("it can much cheaper"). Although these errors are noticeable and occur across a range of structures, they rarely impede overall communication. The mix of structures with persistent errors places this response firmly at Band 5.5.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.