Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28

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)

Building tall apartment blocks in larger cities is a very basic need we can have in the current time. Yes I totally agree with this concept as it requires one building to accommodate hundreds of people instead of construct a single house to accommodate 5 to 7 persons.

The reasons includes that a single house we construct requires more money and in that amount of money we can have multiple apartments in a single building.

We can cut the cost of maintenance every year in the apartments instead a single house demands more time and money to maintain. The area will be more attractive with the taller buildings.

Last year I went to Karachi and there the tall building culture is growing rapidly as the population is increasing every year and the city js already at its fullest to build new homes. In the new city, urbanization is taking place almost in every block and they are building taller buildings to accommodate more families. These buildings not only accommodate more people but also improve the infrastructure of the city as it looks more developed and advanced.

Same like in Karachi, the government should took initiatives to build more buildings in other cities as well like in Hyderabad and nearer rural cities.

By totally agreeing with the statement we can save time, money, labour, electricity, water and other essentials of life by giving space to more families. In this way people can afford apartments who are not been able to build their own.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position agreeing with the proposition of building tall apartment blocks in large cities. The student attempts to provide reasons, such as cost efficiency, maintenance reduction, and accommodating more people, citing an example from Karachi. However, the ideas are relatively brief, lack deep extension, and tend to over-generalise without substantial elaboration. While all parts of the task are addressed, the arguments remain somewhat basic and under-developed, aligning best with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a logical overarching arrangement with a clear stance presented early on. Paragraphing is attempted, grouping individual ideas such as financial benefits and the real-world example of Karachi. However, cohesion is often faulty or mechanical. Sentences are sometimes linked abruptly, and referencing is not always completely clear, as seen in phrases like 'The reasons includes' or 'Same like in Karachi'. Paragraph transitions could be smoother and more sophisticated. Overall, the structural organization is sufficient for a Band 5.5 or 6, fitting comfortably within Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, touching upon concepts like 'urbanization', 'infrastructure', and 'accommodate'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'current time' instead of 'present day', 'tall building culture' instead of 'high-rise development', and 'nearer rural cities' instead of 'surrounding rural towns'. Spelling and word formation errors, such as 'js' for 'is' and 'took' instead of 'take', are present, but they do not seriously impede overall communication, placing this firmly at Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some attempt at variety. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the response. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('The reasons includes'), tense inaccuracies ('who are not been able'), and prepositional slips ('in that amount of money'). Punctuation is also erratic in places. While simple sentences are often clear, attempts at more complex structures frequently result in errors that can cause some difficulty for the reader, which corresponds to the Band 5 descriptors.

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

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