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)
The most optimal way to build enough housings for families in cities is to build large apartment buildings. I totally agree with this statement as it can reduce multiple underlying issues and can provide people with affordable housing.
First and foremost, the cities should grow vertically rather than horizontally. Most well developed cities like New York, Delhi, Dubai have tall buildings and apartments. Tall residential areas save land that can be utilized for other things, for example, a theme park or a library. With less spread of cities, people will not have to travel far for their jobs which can save in fuel and can resulting good for environment. Furthermore, with housings, there will be shortage of space and buying home will become unafforable.
Moreover, horizontal growth can bring multiple new problems as well. Facilities like water, gas and electricity will have to be transfered much farther. It can become expensive for cities to manage all that. Funds that could go for things like maintaining parks or other facilities will used on just managing utilities. In case of Lahore- a city in which i'm living in- there is a visible problem of housing and absense of utilities in far corner of city. Tall apartments are nor popular neither widely accepted in general public and people are more inclined toward buying a house.
To accomodate large portion of people, there should introduction of tall residential buildings/block so facilities can be reachable along with affordable housing. Tall apartments are most suitable for cities where living spaces are limited.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear overall position agreeing that building tall apartment blocks is the best solution for urban housing. The writer introduces relevant ideas regarding land conservation, transport efficiency, and infrastructure management. For instance, the mention of vertical growth saving land for amenities like theme parks and reducing commuting distances successfully extends the argument. However, there are some contradictory statements, such as mentioning that tall apartments are 'neither popular nor widely accepted in the general public' right after arguing in favor of them, which slightly weakens the internal consistency of the position. Overall, the ideas are sufficiently developed to meet the requirements of Band 6.5, leaning towards a solid Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing vertical growth and infrastructure, and concluding with a summary statement. Cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Furthermore', and 'Moreover' are utilized to structure the response, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical. While referencing is generally clear, paragraphing could be managed more effectively, as the second body paragraph introduces a counter-argument and a personal anecdote about Lahore rather abruptly. Furthermore, repetition of certain phrases affects the overall flow. These characteristics align closely with the descriptors for Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'optimal', 'vertically', 'infrastructure', and 'utilities'. However, there are several noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and collocation. For example, 'housings' is incorrectly used as a plural countable noun, 'transfered' is misspelled, 'absense' has a spelling error, and 'can resulting good for environment' contains grammatical and lexical awkwardness. Additionally, 'unafforable' is misspelled. Despite these errors, meaning is generally not impeded, and the lexical range satisfies the criteria for Band 5.5, which is rounded appropriately.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'Funds that could go for things like maintaining parks... will used on just managing utilities'. There is, however, a high frequency of grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('in case of Lahore- a city in which i'm living in'), incorrect verb forms ('will used'), and punctuation issues. Errors in subject-verb agreement and prepositions also frequently occur. Because the errors are noticeable and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, particularly with passive voice construction and word forms, the writing fits the Band 5.5 descriptors well.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.