Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-21

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)

One of the modern day problem is rising number of population in the capital cities. Thus, in order to comprise less of the landscape and provide multitude of houses concept of tall buildings with apartments is introduced. This also proves helpful with conservation and deforestation objectives for governments.

Initially, because of the amenities available in large cities and the standard of life attracts people from other underdeveloped cities. This contributes to increased demand of houses that in turn results in more coverage of land. Therefore, countering the ease of accessibility to daily necessities. Apartments on the other hand cover relatively much less of landscape placing homes on top of each other and thus resulting in more accessibility to essentials of life.

Consequently, as more of ground gets occupied by people for their livelihood, the more there will be deforestation. Furthermore, deforestation can cause damage to the wildlife habitat thereby and also the negative effects it can have on the environment. Lately, governments have become active over wildlife conservation more than ever and thus, in order to save animals and environment policies are needed to be introduced and make sure that people abide by these policies. For instance, in past in Sydney, Australia population rose to such numbers that so much land was covered with houses and resulting deforestation caused depletion of ozone layers causing drastic effects on public health.

In conclusion, less landscape should be covered in order to save environment and building apartments is a feasible solution to this problem.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing whether tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide housing in large cities, presenting a clear supporting position. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the introduction briefly mentions landscape conservation, and body paragraphs attempt to expand on urban migration and environmental protection, but the reasoning remains underdeveloped and lacks fully elaborated supporting points. While the example regarding Sydney attempts to illustrate the environmental dangers of over-population, it lacks factual precision and remains general. Consequently, the task response aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors, as all parts of the task are addressed, but the ideas are not thoroughly extended.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the response into a logical introduction, two body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. However, cohesion is frequently mechanical or faulty. Transitions like 'Initially' and 'Consequently' are used, but sentences within paragraphs often lack smooth logical bridges. For example, the sentence 'Therefore, countering the ease of accessibility to daily necessities' is fragmented and disrupts the logical flow from the preceding clause. Additionally, referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrase 'thereby and also the negative effects'. Overall, the organizational structure is visible, but cohesive devices are not always managed effectively, placing this performance at Band 5.5, rounded to 6.0 based on general paragraphing control.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate basic arguments about urban housing and environmental protection. However, there is a limited range of vocabulary with noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. Examples include 'comprise less of the landscape' instead of 'occupy less land' and 'rising number of population' instead of 'growing population'. The writer attempts some less common items such as 'deforestation', 'conservation', and 'accessibility', but these are accompanied by recurring lexical errors that occasionally require the reader to re-read to grasp the exact meaning. This reflects the characteristics of Band 5.5, rounded to 6.0 for effort and basic communicative success.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though complex structures are frequently faulty. Frequent grammatical errors include missing articles ('One of the modern day problem'), incorrect prepositions, and awkward phrasing such as 'policies are needed to be introduced'. Punctuation is also problematic in places, with several run-on sentences and fragments that impede smooth reading, such as 'For instance, in past in Sydney, Australia population rose to such numbers that so much land was covered with houses and resulting deforestation caused depletion of ozone layers'. While communication is generally maintained despite these errors, the high frequency of grammatical slips prevents the score from reaching a Band 6.0, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptors more closely.

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

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