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 accomodation in cities are a major concern in the present time. Everyone is in the favor of the life style of city because the city life provides all the facilities for the good and luxury life. According to the need of hour all the facilities are not being provided by the villages, towns or in small cities so everyone desires to move towards big cities. As we have multiple options for the construction of residential areas in big cities, and one is to build tall apartment blocks.
Well, I agree with the construction of tall apartment blocks. It is a great way to provide accomodations in big cities. The tall apartment blocks are very beneficial for people, they are also budget friendly in comparison with the seperate houses. Like the big buildings having apartment blocks provides good environment and as well as security. The large buildings consume less space area and provides homes to more families.
For some other reasons i disagree with this idea to build tall apartment blocks in large cities. The homes are too small for large families. There are multiple issues like the apartments are very closely connected which create disturbance. Once I visited the apartment of my friend but it was not a good experience of mine because there was some kind of event in the neighbouring apartment and we were disturbed by them for the whole night. So i prefer the seperate homes with some distance to maintain privacy and peace.
In my opionion it is a good option to have tall apartment blocks but at the same i prefer the personal houses. Both options should be offered so the people can choose according to their ease. Overall, the apartments are the perfect option according to the basic needs of living.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of tall apartment blocks, eventually attempting to present a balanced view. A clear position is stated in the conclusion, though the body paragraphs present somewhat contradictory stances without fully resolving them. The ideas are relevant and supported with personal reasoning, but some points tend to over-generalise or lack deeper extension, placing the response solidly at Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing used to separate the introduction, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen with abrupt transitions like 'Well, I agree' and 'For some other reasons i disagree'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical progression between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common phrases such as 'budget friendly', 'residential areas', and 'maintain privacy and peace'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('accomodation', 'seperate', 'opionion') and awkward collocations ('life style of city', 'consumes less space area'). These errors do not impede communication, but they reflect a Band 5.5 to 6.0 level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors in subject-verb agreement ('The accomodation in cities are', 'provides homes to more families' vs 'provides'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing ('at the same i prefer'). While these errors do not completely obscure the message, they occur with enough frequency to restrict the score to Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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