Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29

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 this rapidly evolving world, finding a shelter has become an integral issue in the metropolitan cities. Some people argue that building tall appartments and blocks is the best way to provide homes to needy people. I largely agree with this statement because there is significantly less space for building homes in most of the cities in current times.

To commence with the first reason, there is no space left in most of the large cities for arranging homes. This is because the mass migration of people from rural areas to developed cities, resulting in significantly crowded and denced cities. In China, for instance, the government is providing multi-story appartments to the citizens due to the scarcity of the space in the ground level. As a result, people of this country not only do find the shelter, but they also stay away from the problem of not having space for living. It is important to have better solution of providing a shelter in the place where there is less space is available.

Furthermore, bulding large appartments is the best solution to combat the issue of having homes in the mega cities. If the tall buildings are available in the cities, individuals will not be in problem of not having the homes. In other words, it can be seen in the most of the cities where there is already very less space for making homes or offices. Even the cost of making a new home is dramatically high in the metropolitan cities. Therefore, a person who does not have the sufficient money to buy his home can find the opportunity to get a homes in the tall appartments because these appartments are cheaper than owning a home in the ground level. For example, in India, there are numerous people who cannot build their own houses due to having less money or earnings. In this case, people here can rely on the cheaper options and these tall appartments and blocks are the best solution.

In conclusion, I agree with the statement to a large extent and believe the tall buildings and blocks are the best way to avail enough homes to the needy people. Thus, if these kinds of large buildings are available in the cities, citizens will not have any issue to find the better shelter. It is also a concern that if the tallbuildings will be not sufficient then where the people will find their space for living in the future as the population is rising.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The candidate addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position agreeing with the statement and supporting it with relevant ideas. The main arguments revolve around urban space scarcity and the affordability of tall apartment blocks, supported by examples from China and India. However, the development of ideas in the body paragraphs is somewhat repetitive and tends to over-generalise, with phrasing like 'individuals will not be in problem of not having the homes.' While the position is maintained throughout, the supporting arguments would benefit from greater depth and precision to reach a higher band. Overall, the response meets the requirements for a Band 6.0 as it addresses the prompt adequately, though development remains somewhat restricted.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, with each body paragraph dedicated to a distinct supporting point. However, cohesive devices are at times mechanical or faulty. For instance, the transition 'To commence with the first reason' is awkward, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'people of this country not only do find the shelter, but they also stay away from the problem.' The progression of ideas is present, but repetitive sentence structures and clunky cohesive links pull down the score. This performance fits the Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'metropolitan cities', 'mass migration', and 'scarcity'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'appartments' (repeatedly misspelled), 'denced' (dense), 'bulding', and unnatural phrases like 'avail enough homes' and 'make a new home' (instead of build). These lexical errors and limitations place the response comfortably within the Band 6 range, as the vocabulary is sufficient to convey meaning despite the inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'do find the shelter', 'less space is available', and 'the tallbuildings will be not sufficient'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and the errors rarely impede communication, as the reader can still discern the intended meaning. Because complex structures often contain errors and the control of grammar is inconsistent, this response aligns well with the Band 5.0 or 6.0 descriptors, earning a 5.5 for frequent grammatical slips.

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