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)
It is often considered that the best way to provide enough houses in urban areas is to construct apartment blocks. I completely agree with this approach because it can facilitate citizens with more availability of places to live in large cities along with better opportunities for employment and education.
One of the positive effects that building tall apartment blocks offer is convenient migration for employment and education. People from various area including from both rural and urban areas prefer to migrate to new bigger cities for new opportunities and experience. If there is enough housing in those cities, it will make easier for people to settle in new places and seek new opportunities. Consequently, building tall apartment blocks could be a beneficial idea for local as well as international residents.
Furthermore, when there is tall apartment blocks instead of many smaller houses in a city, it will occupy less area. So, the remaining areas could be use by state authorities to construct other building essential for hospital, office, industry, markets and shops. Additionally, a large number of people living in a same apartment can increase communication between them. This can ultimately help to build brotherhood and team activities even in the urban societies.
In conclusion, I completely agree that constructing tall apartment blocks facilate people who are planning to migrate to large cities for better opportunities for their career and education by providing enough homes to live.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response presents a clear position and addresses the prompt by agreeing with the statement that tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide housing. The writer outlines two main arguments: facilitating migration for education/employment and saving land space for other essential urban infrastructure. However, the ideas are somewhat generalized and lack fully developed supporting examples. Furthermore, the response is under-length, containing 237 words compared to the minimum requirement of 250 words. This minor penalty prevents the essay from scoring higher in task achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall structure with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Transitional markers such as 'One of the positive effects', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' are utilized to guide the reader through the text, although some cohesive devices feel slightly mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, and each paragraph maintains a discernible central topic related to urban housing and apartment blocks.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully attempting less common phrases such as 'urban areas', 'local as well as international residents', and 'state authorities'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'facilitate citizens with more availability' (instead of 'provide citizens with greater availability') and 'tall apartment blocks instead of many smaller houses... it will occupy' (subject-verb agreement/referencing issue). Spelling is generally accurate, but vocabulary limitations cap the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as conditional clauses ('If there is enough housing in those cities, it will make easier...'). There are several noticeable grammatical errors, including 'when there is tall apartment blocks' (plural noun agreement), 'could be use' (passive voice error), and 'living in a same apartment' (article usage). Despite these errors, communication is rarely impeded, and the sentence structures show a reasonable attempt at complexity.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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