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)

The rapid growth of cities has created a shortage of affordable housing. It is believed that the best solution for this is to construct tall apartment buildings. I largely agree with this notion for which i am going to explain reasons for that in the subsequent paragraphs.

To commence with the most important reason is that tall buildings make effecient use of limited land. To explain it, since land in uran area is very expensive and scarce. By making lengthy buildings all the families can survive easily and affordably. For instance, a single high rise building can accommodate hundreds of residents without occupying as much land, in that way a small land area can be easily used to give shelter to a lot of individuals. Moreover, apartments can be built close to workplaces, schools, hospitals and pulic transport, which not only increase the communication level but also decrease the traffic congestion.

However, relying totally on tall building can also create certain problems. The pertinent drawback is that densely populated buildings may be overcrowded. In other words, buildings which contain several floors may cause disturance among societies. Some people prefer gardening on their terrists and balconies but in less it would be impossible. If many people live in one building than it will produce noise. Eventually, people would be distrubed and show reluctance in their works. Therefore, government should not focus excusively on high-rise buildings, A balanced approach with medium size apartments, townhouses may be more suitable.

To recapitulate, it can be said that although there are some reasons in the favour of tall apartments construction, drawbacks related to this approach cannot be overlooked.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether building tall apartment blocks is the best solution for urban housing shortages and presents a clear position in favour of this view while acknowledging counterarguments. The ideas are generally relevant, but some development lacks precision and depth. For instance, the point regarding communication and traffic congestion is introduced abruptly without strong elaboration. The conclusion and body paragraphs maintain a clear overall stance, fitting comfortably into the Band 6 descriptor where all parts are addressed and relevant ideas are presented, although some aspects require further expansion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by body paragraphs addressing the main advantages and drawbacks, and concluding appropriately. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To commence with', 'For instance', 'Moreover', and 'However'. However, some transitions feel mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'For to explain it, since land in uran area is very expensive and scarce.' Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as 'in less it would be impossible'. Overall, the logical progression is apparent, making the essay coherent despite minor cohesion issues.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'shortage of affordable housing', 'high rise building', 'traffic congestion', and 'densely populated'. However, there are notable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'effecient' instead of efficient, 'uran' instead of urban, 'lengthy buildings' instead of tall buildings, 'disturance' instead of disturbance, and 'terrists' instead of terraces. These errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the score from reaching a higher band, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'It is believed that the best solution for this is to construct tall apartment buildings.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the response, including lowercase capitalization for 'i', fragments such as 'for which i am going to explain reasons for that', subject-verb agreement issues ('If many people live in one building than it will produce noise'), and incorrect preposition usage. While these errors do not completely obscure meaning, they occur frequently enough to keep the grammar score at Band 5.0.

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

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