Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

Logically, To provide enough homes in large cities we eventually need to build tall buildings to meet the demand as many floors in a building will have enough space to fit many apartments for people. But to my experience the people living in these large buildings will need parking space and other things that are not suitable and possible while living in those small apartments. Moreover there is always huge risk of security and reliability of those buildings. So i agree with the stance to some extent but it definitely has some drawbacks that everyone should consider.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is severely under-length, containing only 97 words compared to the required 250 words. Because of this extreme word count deficit, the task cannot be fully addressed or developed, falling squarely under the Band 4 descriptor for Task Achievement. While the writer makes a preliminary attempt to address the prompt by stating an extent of agreement, the arguments regarding parking space, security, and reliability are rudimentary and lack proper elaboration or supporting examples. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their ideas significantly, provide well-reasoned arguments, and meet the minimum word count requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The writing consists of a single paragraph containing just three sentences, which completely bypasses the requirement for appropriate paragraphing. There is a lack of clear overall progression of ideas, and cohesive devices are minimal and rudimentary, relying mostly on basic transition words like 'Moreover' and 'So'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like 'those buildings' without a firmly established preceding context. Although the text remains generally comprehensible, the organizational structure is far too basic and lacks the logical sequencing and paragraph division expected at higher bands, resulting in a Band 4 score for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a basic and repetitive vocabulary range, utilizing common everyday words such as 'large buildings', 'small apartments', and 'parking space'. There are noticeable limitations in lexical choice, and the text lacks any less common or sophisticated vocabulary items appropriate for an Academic task. However, the vocabulary used is minimally adequate to convey the basic meaning without entirely blocking communication, and spelling is generally accurate. This aligns well with the Band 5 descriptors, where the lexical resource is limited and repetitive but still allows the message to be understood.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as the concessive structure in 'But to my experience the people living in these large buildings will need...'. However, there are notable grammatical and punctuation errors, including capitalization mistakes like 'Logically, To provide', missing commas before conjunctions, and awkward prepositional usage ('to my experience' instead of 'in my experience'). Despite these errors, communication is rarely impeded, and the sentences remain structurally understandable, supporting a Band 5 or 6 performance. Considering the frequency of minor structural awkwardness and punctuation slips, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.

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

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