Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The topic represents the best way to provide enough homes in large cities: to build tall apartment blocks. I completely disagree with this statement.

Firstly, building tall apartment blocks creates so many problems; for instance, privacy concerns, noisy environments, and health issues. However, if people are living in apartments, then these people face so many issues, like there being no privacy between family and neighbors because the walls are so thin and attached to each other's homes they listen to their talks and discuss with others. By contrast, Karachi is the city of apartments, and a lot of people could pursue living in a flat, so these people should face many issues like fighting and shouting with each other, so as a result, older people have a serious effect on their health, like heart issues, and low self-esteem can affect children, and children should be stressed.

Furthermore, they also interfere in other private talks, and nobody should care about the cleaning because everyone does not take responsibility for the cleaning floor and stairs; as a result, germ counts may increase and spread disease fast around them, especially in children. For example, my friend lived in a flat with family last year, and these became ill for all family members because of the dirty environment in an apartment.

Moreover, some apartments should be clean and furnished and located in peaceful places, but they are so high-rated that everyone should not be offered such a price, so some prefer normal apartments rather than luxury. Sometimes, providing enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks that provide benefits like less pollution, over-crowded areas, etc.

In the conclusion, private homes are a better option because they offer more privacy and a healthier environment for children

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position ("I completely disagree with this statement") and providing reasons to support this view, such as privacy issues, noise, and health concerns in tall apartment blocks. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion on privacy and health impacts wanders into generalized claims about Karachi and hypothetical family disputes without robust extension. While the student attempts to counter-balance with a brief nod to benefits like "less pollution" in the fourth paragraph, this idea is poorly integrated and lacks sufficient elaboration. The position is clear throughout, but the depth of argumentation aligns more closely with the Band 5 descriptor, where ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay displays some organization through basic cohesive devices such as "Firstly," "Furthermore," "Moreover," and "In the conclusion." However, the overall progression is frequently hindered by run-on sentences and confusing referencing. For example, sentences like "However, if people are living in apartments, then these people face so many issues..." create logical blockages and circular phrasing. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal structure of the paragraphs is weak, particularly in the long second paragraph which crams multiple distinct thoughts—privacy, neighbor disputes, and children's self-esteem—together without clear logical separation. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate or over-used, fitting the Band 5 level where cohesion is occasionally faulty and referencing is unclear.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, frequently relying on everyday terms like "so many issues," "clean," and "dirty." There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations that strain comprehension at times, such as "germ counts may increase and spread disease fast around them" and "these became ill for all family members." Less common items are attempted, such as "low self-esteem" and "peaceful places," but precision is lacking, and words are often misused or incorrectly formed. Spelling is generally acceptable, but the overall lexical range is limited and minimally adequate for the task, placing it firmly at Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but many of the complex sentences are faulty, leading to frequent grammatical errors and run-on constructions. For instance, the sentence "By contrast, Karachi is the city of apartments, and a lot of people could pursue living in a flat, so these people should face many issues like fighting and shouting with each other..." demonstrates poor clause subordination and punctuation control. Errors in tense consistency, modal verb usage ("should face," "nobody should care"), and prepositional phrasing are frequent and occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. This performance aligns with Band 5, where frequent errors persist and attempts at complex structures are often inaccurate.

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

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