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)

In the current societal landscape, urbanization is a phenomenon that is being witnessed among diverse populations. Many people believe that building upward blocks in large urban areas is the most effective way to provide sufficient housing facilities to the society. In my perspective, I am inclined to oppose this proportion, as it holds potential demerits upon its implementation.

On the one hand, there is no doubt that private houses provide families with enough privacy. Single homes with small gardens help the parents and their children to spend quality time together. Moreover, there is a friendly environment among neighbors. For instance, the children from different homes play together. In this way, their social circle increases and they become more confident since childhood.

On the other hand, vertical buildings might look attractive from the outside, but the families living there are isolated. They remain within two rooms of their apartment. For example, three or four students living in an apartment do not have any outdoor activities. This results in health problems, particularly psychological issues related to loneliness.

In contrast, tall apartments also have potential benefits such as less space utilization and accommodating hundreds of families into a single block of apartment. However, such buildings should be built in such a way that people living there don't feel isolated. There should be a gym, garden, or some place for other healthy activities so that the children and their parents should spend some quality time with each other and learn to socialize.

In conclusion, contemporary society has witnessed a variety of merits. From my vantage point, I find myself surrounded by more drawbacks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses the prompt by taking a clear opposing position against building tall apartment blocks as the best solution for urban housing, mentioning potential drawbacks such as isolation and psychological issues. However, the development of ideas lacks depth and contains some contradictions. For instance, in the fourth paragraph, the student acknowledges benefits like 'less space utilization' and even suggests how tall buildings could be improved with communal facilities, which slightly blurs their initial stance against them. Furthermore, the reasoning relies on generalizations about private houses providing privacy versus high-rises causing isolation, rather than thoroughly discussing broader urban planning aspects like cost, sustainability, and infrastructure. Overall, the response addresses the task adequately and maintains a recognizable position throughout, corresponding to a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different points, such as the advantages of private houses and the disadvantages of vertical buildings. Cohesive devices are employed, including transition markers like 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In contrast'. However, some of these markers are used awkwardly or mechanically. For instance, 'In contrast' introduces a paragraph that actually discusses benefits and potential solutions for tall apartments rather than presenting a contrasting argument to the preceding paragraph. Referencing and logical progression occasionally falter due to these abrupt shifts in focus. These limitations place the cohesion firmly at the Band 6.0 level.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range sufficient for the task, successfully using terms related to urban living such as 'urbanization', 'housing facilities', 'vertical buildings', and 'socialize'. There are several noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies. For example, the phrase 'oppose this proportion' should be 'oppose this proposition', and 'building upward blocks' is unnatural compared to 'building high-rise blocks' or 'vertical housing'. There are also occasional phrasing issues like 'since childhood' instead of 'from childhood'. While less common vocabulary is attempted, the presence of these errors and lack of sophisticated phrasing restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional-like clauses and subordinate structures, such as 'In the current societal landscape, urbanization is a phenomenon that is being witnessed...' and 'For example, three or four students living in an apartment do not have any outdoor activities.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward constructions throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues and tense confusion, such as 'so that the children and their parents should spend some quality time'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical inaccuracies occur frequently enough to impede complete fluency, though they do not obscure overall communication. This performance aligns with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

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