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)
Providing enough shelters in large cities is to build multi storey buildings, in this essay I agree with the statement and give my opinion to support this. I believe that in urban areas population have been increasing day by day, although buying own land are not affordable because of the rising price.
Most of the individuals move from countryside to urban cities to get better amenties, employement, services and better pay, it can cause overpopulation in a city that create problems such as land area is not enough to provide own private property to all the people. For instance in Mumbai the population are increasing and the government is already takes action by remove the slum and construct high rise buildings on the same place to provide better homes. Multi storey buildings provides shelter to almost 250 familes in a small land of areas.
Moreover, increasing price of the land is also the another reason why the most of the population love to live in an apartment rather than buying their own house. Inflation is rising over the years most of the pupils does not have enough money to buy their own land thats why they lease apartment for their family. For instance my friend is living in an apartment because he is not able to buy own property and the another reason is tax on own property is higher.
To conclude, tall apartments is better to live rather than having personal property because apartment owner also provide better lifestyle, amenties such as swimming pool, library, hall and parking. Government also give subsidy to motivate public to live in high rise buildings.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position agreeing with the statement that tall apartment blocks are the best solution for urban housing. The writer presents relevant ideas, such as rural-to-urban migration, escalating land prices, and the efficient use of space. For instance, the example of Mumbai removing slums to construct high-rise buildings supports the main argument. However, some ideas are slightly under-developed or supported with anecdotal references rather than broader socioeconomic analysis. Furthermore, there are minor issues with task focus, such as the introduction awkwardly phrasing the prompt. Overall, the response meets the criteria for Band 6.0 as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant, if sometimes limited, ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the writing into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct ideas, such as population influx in paragraph two and financial considerations in paragraph three. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and faulty. Phrases like 'Moreover, increasing price of the land is also the another reason' and 'To conclude, tall apartments is better to live rather than having personal property' demonstrate awkward transitions and referencing errors. Pronoun referencing is occasionally unclear. Because of these mechanical cohesive devices and occasional faulty referencing, the response firmly fits the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range, earning a 5.5.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'overpopulation', 'subsidy', and 'infrastructure', although many terms are used inaccurately or with awkward collocations. Examples include 'providing enough shelters' instead of 'housing', 'buying own land are not affordable', and 'amenities' spelled as 'amenties'. Word choice errors are noticeable throughout the text, such as 'pupils' instead of 'citizens' or 'people' when referring to adults. While communication is not severely impeded, these frequent lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors restrict the score to a 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding subject-verb agreement ('population have been increasing', 'the population are increasing', 'tall apartments is better'), article usage ('remove the slum', 'on the same place'), and prepositional phrases. Additionally, run-on sentences and comma splices appear, such as 'Providing enough shelters in large cities is to build multi storey buildings, in this essay I agree...'. Due to the frequency of these errors and the limited control over complex structures, the response demonstrates the characteristics of Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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