Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22

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 best way to provide enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartments blocks.I agree with this statement.In this essay,I will explain the reason and give some relevant examples.

People move from rural areas to large cities for short period such as completing their higher education, employment and visiting the area.Moreover,pollution increased in large cities more rapidly than rural areas.Making tall apartment is best solution to provide enough homes rather than making individual houses.There are other benefits of making tall apartment such as traffic congestion should be decrease and people have more land for agriculture.

Firstly,Making tall apartment can overcome traffic congestion problem.Tall apartment block occupy less space and more people in one apartment.As a result, Government makes better and wide roads,improves public transports by making trains and buses more tracks.For example, Small road can cause traffic congestion because of traffic weather may be polluted.

Secondly, people have more land for agriculture if they make tall apartment.This step will in increase in country economy.For example people can plants fruits trees and make wheat,rice and vegetables.The government can export it to other countries and earn money.

There are some disadvantage of living in tall apartment.People may face electricity and water supply problems.Moreover,Many people will living in same apartment so it would be a little nosiely.I believe government should makes strict rules and provide good faculities.

In conclusion,Making tall building is best solution to provide enough houses in large cities because the population increasing rapidly in cities.Also people migrating from rural areas to cities.Making tall building also beneficial for reducing traffic congestion and help in economy growth.

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, and a clear position is taken ('I agree with this statement'). Main ideas are introduced, such as mitigating traffic and freeing up agricultural land, alongside some disadvantages like noise and utility strain. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the link between tall apartments and traffic congestion or agricultural output is stated rather than deeply explained. Examples provided, such as planting fruit trees or building wider roads, are basic and somewhat disconnected. Furthermore, minor mechanical errors in punctuation, such as missing spaces after commas (e.g., 'essay,I', 'statement.In'), reflect a slightly rushed presentation. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, placing this response at Band 5.5 to 6.0. Given the partial development of arguments, Band 6.0 represents a fair match for addressing all parts with relevant, if underdeveloped, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into an introduction, several body paragraphs addressing benefits and drawbacks, and a conclusion, showing an overall logical arrangement. Paragraphing is attempted, with distinct sections for traffic, agriculture, and disadvantages. However, cohesion at the sentence level is frequently faulty or mechanical. Transition phrases like 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' are used, but sentences within paragraphs lack smooth cohesive ties, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'export it to other countries' where 'it' lacks a clear singular antecedent). Furthermore, repetitive sentence structures hinder progression. Paragraph transitions could be smoother and cohesive devices handled with greater flexibility to achieve a higher score. This organisation aligns best with Band 5.5, rounded to 6.0 for clear overall paragraph structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, including terms like 'migration', 'population increasing', 'agriculture', and 'congestion'. However, there are noticeable word-choice errors, awkward collocations, and missing plural forms or articles (e.g., 'Making tall apartment' instead of 'Building tall apartments', 'traffic weather' instead of 'traffic emissions or weather', 'nosiely' instead of 'noisy', 'faculities' instead of 'facilities'). Less common vocabulary is attempted but often inaccurate. Spelling errors such as 'disadvantage' versus 'disadvantages' and 'faculities' also occur. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they limit the vocabulary score. This performance fits comfortably into Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional and relative clauses ('People move from rural areas to large cities for short period such as...'). However, there is a high frequency of grammatical errors, particularly regarding subject-verb agreement ('population increasing', 'government makes', 'Many people will living'), article usage, and singular/plural nouns ('tall apartment' instead of 'tall apartments'). Punctuation is also problematic, with multiple instances of missing spaces after commas and periods. Although simple sentences are generally understandable, attempts at more complex structures frequently result in errors that require reader effort. This grammatical control corresponds to a Band 5.0.

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