Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-23

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)

Tall Apartments are playing an important role specially in all of those cities which are too much crowded. We know that everything have prons and cons, but i believe that tall apartments have more benefits specially in those cities which consists of large population. In this essay, we are going to take a look on how big apartments benefits us in big cities.

There are several factors which makes me think that big departments are necessary in order to manage the population efficiently. Like, only one large building can adjust more than 500 persons. Whereas, if anyone have private home on the same land then that private home will have only 20 to 30 persons. For instance, if we take a look on the city of karachi most of the people are living in separate flats instead of having a private home because there is'nt enough land for each family.

Another key factor that we should consider is Pricing. Enormous apartments are cheap as compared to the private homes. The reason is that if a person lives in a private home it's obvious that the parent/guardian have to bear all of the costs by themselves but if we take a look on those people who are living in huge apartments we will notice that most of the charges are divided in between each of the flat which makes it cheaper and more reliable. For instance, maintainence cost and all of the other miscellaneous charges are divided among all of the flat owners. Moreover, flats are less expensive as compared to private homes which makes it more cost efficient.

Overall, it is necessary to build tall apartment in enormous cities so that enough homes are provided in order to prevent from an increase in the homeless people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the role of tall apartment blocks in densely populated cities and takes a clear position in favour of them. Key ideas, such as population capacity and cost efficiency, are introduced and supported with a personal example involving Karachi. However, the development remains somewhat basic and tends to generalise. For instance, the comparison regarding population capacity states that one building holds over 500 persons compared to a private home holding 20 to 30, but this lacks deeper analytical extension. The conclusion summarises the stance adequately. Overall, the task is addressed well enough to meet the criteria for Band 6.0, as all parts of the prompt are covered, though some ideas are slightly under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs focusing on distinct points, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and faulty. For instance, transitional phrases like 'Like, only one large building' and 'The reason is that' are used rather awkwardly, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'if anyone have private home'. Furthermore, cohesive devices are somewhat repetitive. The logical progression is clear enough to follow, but the lack of smoother transitions and more sophisticated cohesive ties keeps this criterion at a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating everyday concepts related to housing and cities (e.g., 'densely crowded', 'population', 'cost efficient'). However, there are numerous inappropriate word choices and collocations, such as 'adjust more than 500 persons' instead of 'accommodate', 'big departments' instead of 'apartments', and 'maintainence cost' with a spelling error. The writer attempts less common vocabulary like 'miscellaneous charges', but lexical inaccuracies remain frequent. These do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the score to a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some attempt at subordination and conditional structures (e.g., 'if we take a look on the city of karachi most of the people are living...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and articles, such as 'everything have', 'there is'nt enough land', 'tall apartment' (singular instead of plural), and punctuation issues like comma splices and lowercase letters for proper nouns ('karachi'). While the meaning is generally clear despite these slips, the frequency of errors prevents the grammar from reaching a higher band. A score of 5.0 reflects these persistent inaccuracies.

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