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)

In today's rapidly growing world, the construction of tall building shows the strong significance of modern development. While it is often argued that constructing tall buildings is the most effective way to provide sufficent homes in large cities. I partly agree with this view because high-rise buildings can accommodate many people in limited area, but other forms of housing are also essential.

On major reason why I agree is that they make efficent use of land. This is largely becuase large cities usually have limited land avaliable for residential development, while their population continue to grow. high-rise building allows thousands of citizens to live in a relatively small area. For instance, A 30-storey modern apartment building can accommodate hundreds of millions on the sam piece of land and essential services.

Conversely, tall buildings cannot provide complete solution because, constructing high-rise building alone may put too much pressure on existing infrastructure such as roads, public transport and schools. Likewise, some people may prefer to live in a open and low-rise communities so they get a better quality of life.

In my view, high-rise building in suburban areas are quite expensive, as for low-income residents are not affordable. Constructing medium rise apartments can lead to better management of public transport, connecting outer areas to city centres. As a result, cities should adopt a balanced housing strategy rather than depend entirely on skyscrapers.

To conclude, although, high-rise building are efficent way to accommodate growing urban populations and provide modern facilities to people. Nevertheless, a combination of well-planned infrastructure and different housing types provide a more sustainable approach for large cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position and discussing both the advantages of tall apartment blocks and the necessity of alternative housing solutions. The main ideas are generally well developed, such as the discussion on efficient land use and the strain on infrastructure. However, there are minor factual exaggerations in the support, such as 'A 30-storey modern apartment building can accommodate hundreds of millions', which detracts slightly from the academic tone and precision of the response. The position is maintained consistently throughout the essay, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7, but the slight lack of precision in supporting arguments keeps it firmly at a solid Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is logically organised with a clear overall progression. The student uses paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately to separate the introduction, body paragraphs addressing different aspects of the prompt, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, as seen with phrases like 'Conversely' and 'As a result'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty; for example, the fragment 'In today's rapidly growing world, the construction of tall building shows...' is punctuated incorrectly, splitting a dependent clause from the main idea, and transitions can feel slightly mechanical. Overall, the essay demonstrates a coherent arrangement of ideas, fitting the Band 6 descriptors well.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'residential development', 'infrastructure', and 'sustainable approach'. However, there are notable spelling errors and minor word choice inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'sufficent' instead of 'sufficient', 'becuase', 'avaliable', 'efficent', and 'open and low-rise communities' (where 'an' should be used). These errors do not impede overall communication, but they restrict the lexical score. The use of repetitive vocabulary structures ('high-rise building') also prevents the essay from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional and relative clauses. There are, however, several noticeable grammatical errors and punctuation flaws. For instance, the sentence starting with 'While it is often argued... I partly agree...' contains a sentence fragment. Other errors include subject-verb agreement issues, such as 'the construction of tall building shows' and 'population continue to grow', as well as punctuation slips in the conclusion ('although, high-rise building are efficent way...'). These errors occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a Band 7, but they rarely impede overall comprehension, aligning well with Band 6 descriptors.

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

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