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)

Some people argue that constructing large apartment building is the most effective solution to housing shortages in major cities. I disagree with this statement because although tall building save space but they create social problems and safety risks which are very essential to consider Therefore, they cannot be regarded as the best solution.

Firstly, high density towers can lead to overcrowding, noise and lack of community feeling. Residents often do not know their neighbors which increases loneliness and social isolation. This weak social bond can lead to higher crime rate and mental health issues. For example,in the UK many tower estate become famous for crime because residents felt no community connection.

On the other hand,relying solely on tall buildings creates several problems, high rise building are more vulnerable in emergencies like fires or earthquake. Moving at that time is slow and dangerous because elevators stop working and stair become overcrowded. People only thought about their own life at that time . For example, in 2005, during earthquake in Pakistan, many people died because moving from tall buildings to smaller ones took a lot of time. Furthermore, maintaining these building is very expensive and puts pressure in water, electricity and public services.

In conclusion, although tall apartment blocks are an efficient way to provide housing in crowded cities but they are not the best solution in every case. Making tall building involves higher risks more social issues and greater maintenance costs. Governments should therefore consider medium rise housing and improved public transport.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses the prompt by clearly stating a disagreement with the statement and providing reasons to support this position. The response covers both social problems and safety risks associated with tall apartment blocks. However, some ideas are under-developed and border on over-generalisation. For example, the claim that high-rise buildings inevitably lead to higher crime rates and social isolation is stated without sufficient qualification, and the example regarding the 2005 Pakistan earthquake lacks full contextual integration since high-rise apartments are less common in many affected rural areas, though it serves to illustrate safety concerns. Despite these minor limitations, the main parts of the task are addressed, and a clear position is maintained throughout the essay. This performance fits the Band 6 descriptor well.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, body paragraphs on social and safety aspects, and the conclusion logically. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. There are noticeable missing punctuation marks and spacing errors that disrupt the flow (e.g., 'Therefore, they cannot', 'For example,in the UK', 'On the other hand,relying solely'). Additionally, referencing is occasionally repetitive or vague, such as the transition into the second body paragraph ('On the other hand, relying solely on tall buildings creates several problems'), which shifts focus rather than contrasting naturally with the previous point about social issues. Overall organisational structure is present, but mechanical flaws pull the score to a 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'housing shortages', 'social isolation', 'high density towers', and 'public services'. There are, however, several word-choice and spelling errors that show limitation, such as 'building' instead of 'buildings', 'stair' instead of 'stairs', and 'thought' instead of 'think'. Less common items are attempted with some inaccuracy, such as 'tower estate' instead of 'tower estates'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the vocabulary score to a Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing subordinate clauses with 'although' and 'because'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent punctuation errors, missing commas, and run-on sentences (e.g., 'Some people argue that constructing large apartment building is the most effective solution to housing shortages in major cities. I disagree with this statement because although tall building save space but they create social problems...'). Double conjunctions like 'although... but' appear twice, which is a structural error. Furthermore, issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'tall building save', 'building is') and pluralisation are persistent. These errors can cause occasional difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar at a Band 5.5.

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