Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27

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)

Nowadays, it is believed that constructing tall apartment buildings would be a great method to offer adequate houses in big cities. I donot concur with this notion, although it can be good strategy in urban cities, however, it raises questions regarding saftey and privacy.

One compelling argument in the favour of notconstructing vertical buildings is that although it is a cheaper option and thousands of families would occupy the residence, during an emergency situation it will be arduous to evacuate every person in the building. For instance, in 2005, pakistan experienced a severe high magnitude earthquake in which hundred of families lost their lives as soon as the apartment building collapsed. later on, media highlighted the reason that there was not enough space to escape every individual. Since the property is quite conjusted there is no balcony or outdoor space to spend a quality time.

Another significant reason is that some people prefer privacy and peaceful environment, however, due to the restricted limited layout and small conjusted rooms residents might have a limited privacy. Overcrwoding in the apartments might cause noise and disturbance for those who prefer quite living spaces. For instance, loud sounds and disruptions would lead to irritation and fraustration in a resident who enjoys calm and peacful surroundings. Disabled indviduals might suffer if there is no proper mobility options for them i.e elevators etc.

To put it in a nut shell, although these highrise resdiency might have benefits, however, it also comes with great drawbacks. According to my perspective, constructing these buildings would cause privacy and saftey risks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses the prompt by presenting a clear position disagreeing with the statement that tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide housing. The response identifies two main arguments: safety concerns during emergencies and a lack of privacy or outdoor space. While the ideas are relevant and supported with personal reasoning and an example regarding earthquakes, the development remains somewhat limited and repetitive. The mention of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake is a specific example, though the explanation could be further extended to fully explore the prompt's nuances. Overall, all parts of the task are addressed, and a clear stance is maintained throughout, corresponding well to the requirements of Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes faulty or mechanical, such as the redundant transition 'however' within the same sentence structure ('I donot concur with this notion, although it can be good strategy in urban cities, however, it raises questions...'). Referencing and logical progression are generally maintained, but the flow between sentences can feel slightly disjointed due to punctuation errors and run-on structures. These issues place the response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'evacuate', 'magnitude', and 'disruptions'. However, there are notable spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the overall quality, including 'donot', 'saftey', 'notconstructing', 'conjusted' (congested), 'Overcrwoding', 'fraustration', 'indviduals', and 'resdiency'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not severely impeded, and the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, which aligns with the descriptors for Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability to construct multi-clause sentences. However, frequent grammatical and punctuation errors occur throughout the text, including run-on sentences, missing commas, and agreement issues, such as 'hundred of families' instead of 'hundreds of families' and 'there is no proper mobility options' instead of 'there are no proper mobility options'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent enough to prevent the essay from achieving a higher band, making Band 5.5 an appropriate score for this criterion.

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

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