Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-20
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)
Nowadays, many individuals and families are shiftingto big urban areas for better lifestyle. However some people believe that large buildings such as flats will be the approperiate way to give shelters to these citizens.I completely agree with this point of view and in this essay i will support my opinion with examples.
Firstly, population of towns are now increasing rapidly throughout the world, And there is no further space available for adjusting new people. However, building huge apartments can solve this problem in such a better maner. For instance, A flat can be build consuming less space of land, And also big number of housholds can be live there with similer facilities which they have in a modern house.
Secondly, building a separate house in develped places can be very costly and also have a lot of efforts and waiting time. On the other hand, buying a ready made home in a flat can be a very cost effective and stressed free. For example, flats have already their water supply systems, but you need to build by yourself if you make a separate house.
In contrast, there are some people who argue that, flats dont have enough natural sun light sytem which can arise some problems. For example, every flat owner dont have a roof except the top one, they cant dry their cloths in the day time and also sun light is very important for human bodies. However, I still believe that flats remain the better option overall, since these problems can be managed through good building design, such as adding large windows or balconies.
To conclude, building taller apartments can be a perfect way to adjust more population in cities. I Largely believe that this is a poitive approach and it can be very cost effective and consume less space of land.
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 all parts of the task by clearly stating their complete agreement with the proposition that tall apartment blocks are the best solution for providing homes in large cities. A clear position is maintained throughout the essay. Main ideas are presented and supported with reasons and examples, such as land conservation, cost-effectiveness, and addressing the lack of natural sunlight through architectural design. While some ideas could be extended further for higher bands, the response adequately covers the prompt, and the arguments are logically relevant, earning a solid Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is divided into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs supporting the main argument, a concession paragraph addressing opposing views, and a conclusion. Transitional markers such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', 'In contrast', and 'To conclude' are employed to structure the flow of ideas. However, paragraphing and punctuation mechanics show some flaws (e.g., missing spaces after commas, uncapitalised 'i'), and referencing is occasionally repetitive. Cohesion is functional rather than flexible, making Band 6.0 an appropriate descriptor for this organisational control.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'urban areas', 'cost effective', and 'architectural design'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('approperiate', 'maner', 'housholds', 'similer', 'develped', 'stressed free', 'dont', 'cloths', 'poitive') and word choice inaccuracies ('give shelters', 'adjusting new people', 'consuming less space of land'). These errors do not impede overall communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5 due to noticeable inaccuracies.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating conditional ideas and relative clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent punctuation and capitalization errors (e.g., 'i', commas before 'And', missing apostrophes in 'dont'), as well as structural slips such as 'flats have already their water supply systems, but you need to build by yourself'. While the meaning remains generally clear, the frequency of errors places this performance firmly at Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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