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)

As per my opinion, to give people homes in big cities by building tall apartments has their own pros and cons.

As in the cities there is always less availability of land and large number of people migrated from different areas so finding a home is always a risky job, so building more apartment is one of the solution as making tall apartment blocks cover less area and settled more people. In addition to that, 100 homes can be settled in one building whereas all the amenities like gym, park, shopping mall etc can also be easily available to them. for example if i made a tall building it will be one of the best source of revenue and for the people a luxury and necessity where they can have all the amenities under one roof.

In contrast to that building tall apartment blocks requires a high volume of investment, also safety issues is one of the major problem and taking NOC from governmnet is hard work as government has security issues in large cities. A recent example happens in Islamabad where a tall building is made empty by government as they said there are security problems, and to convert that apartments into hotel. All the hardwork and investment can be gone if any point or concern raised by the government.

To tackle the problem of homes in the large cities there should be proper regulations and law for building tall apartments whereas investors should be motivated to do investment in the cities to tackle the problems of less homes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of building tall apartment blocks in large cities, providing a clear overall position. The student attempts to develop ideas such as space-saving benefits, provision of amenities, high investment costs, and government regulations. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited and uneven. For instance, the example involving Islamabad shifts abruptly into anecdotal and slightly confusing terms ('if i made a tall building') rather than objective argumentation. While the main parts of the task are covered, the support remains basic and lacks the full extension expected at higher band levels. Therefore, the response aligns best with a Band 6.0 descriptor, as it addresses all parts of the task with relevant ideas, though some are under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a generally coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs exploring contrasting sides, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate ideas, which helps the reader follow the progression. However, cohesion is frequently faulty or mechanical. The student relies heavily on basic transitional phrases like 'In addition to that,' and 'In contrast to that,' and some referencing is unclear, such as the pronoun shifts ('has their own pros and cons'). Furthermore, run-on sentences and punctuation issues disrupt the logical flow between clauses. Because the organisation is somewhat mechanical and cohesion is inconsistently managed, this performance fits the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range well, leaning towards a solid Band 5.5 for its mechanical referencing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic concepts about urban housing, investments, and government regulations. There are attempts to use less common items such as 'amenities', 'regulations', and 'investment', but these are accompanied by frequent word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'availability of land and large number of people migrated', 'settled more people' (instead of accommodate), and 'taking NOC from government'. Spelling and word formation are generally understandable and do not impede overall communication, but they restrict the range and precision. These characteristics place the lexical performance firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in subject-verb agreement ('building tall apartments has their own'), article usage ('the cities', 'a risky job', 'one of the solution'), and run-on sentences joined inappropriately by commas without conjunctions. For example, sentences like 'As in the cities there is always less availability of land and large number of people migrated from different areas so finding a home is always a risky job, so building more apartment is one of the solution' demonstrate a heavy lack of control over complex syntax. These persistent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from reaching Band 6.0.

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

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