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 statement contradicts the idea that large cities should build vertical apartment blocks to save space and also to provide enough homes for everyone.I do agree with it to some extent as there are many jobs and facilities available in big cities compared to small towns or villages.There is a significant number of apartment blocks that have already been built. For example, Singapore and Tokyo, which are the biggest cities have many vertical flats with luxury facilities, and they sell at a surprising amount of millions of dollars.But it requires a monthly maintenance that cost more then the apartemnt itself. Some building have very poor infrastructure and low building material isused in it ,that makes the life of residents at risk. There is no proper emergency exit and fire extinguisher system in it.Some do not even have elevators,residents have to take a lot of stairs to get to their houses.It causes many problems, especially for elderly people and pregnant women.
In my opnion, rather than building a large number of apartments, the government should make a effective transport system between the city and the village Such as metros or buses so that people can live in their homes with their families and use cheap public transport for their daily commute.They will not be forced to pay a large amount of rent and have little savings.Rather than they should make samll size horizontal small houses or apartments with nearby having all the facilites so that space also does not go to waste and the problem also solves.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting a position on whether tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide homes. The writer provides a stance, stating agreement to some extent, and supports it with examples such as Singapore and Tokyo. However, the development of ideas lacks depth and contains some contradictory phrasing in the opening sentence ('The statement contradicts the idea...'). Furthermore, the ideas shift abruptly into discussing monthly maintenance costs, poor infrastructure, and alternative solutions like public transport and horizontal housing. While the main aspects of the task are covered, the arguments are somewhat under-developed and disorganized, aligning best with Band 6 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
Coherence is hindered by poor paragraphing, as the entire first half of the response is crammed into a single block of text without proper structural separation between the introduction and body arguments. Cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or misused, and referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronoun usage like 'It causes many problems' referring back to missing elevators and poor infrastructure. Although there is a logical progression from discussing the benefits and drawbacks of tall buildings to proposing alternatives in the second paragraph, the overall organizational structure lacks the clear logical progression expected at Band 6, pushing the score down to Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'maintenance', 'infrastructure', and 'commute'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'apartemnt', 'isused', 'opnion', and 'samll'. The writer attempts less common lexical items like 'luxury facilities' and 'surprising amount of millions of dollars', but these show some awkwardness in collocation and style. The errors in spelling and word formation do not severely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional-like structures (e.g., 'so that people can live in their homes...'). However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors including run-on sentences, missing punctuation, and faulty subject-verb agreement or article usage, such as 'Some building have very poor infrastructure and low building material isused in it ,that makes the life...' and 'make a effective transport system'. Punctuation errors, such as missing spaces after commas and periods, are pervasive. Because the frequent errors cause occasional difficulty and distraction for the reader, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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