Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

creating tall buildings in big cities is the best way to provide enough homes to people, I largely disagree because of the problems that can happen between neighbours, and also people are vulnerable to die if the building burned out or an earthquake happened.

In the one hand, making a lot of people live at the same building going to make a big problems between the neighbours, because some times people who lives in the highest appartments are not going to get the amount of water needed and electricity, for example, in Algeria a lot of people who live in tall buildings make fights between each other because of the need of water. Also tours and big tall buildings need a big amount of concrete and this can affect the whole environement of the city because of the carbon emissions.

In the other hand, people that lives at the same tour are more vulnerable to die from of the risk of fire and earthquale, because it is hard to escape from tall buildings especially people that lives at the highest apartements

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the prompt by expressing disagreement with the statement that tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide housing. However, the task is significantly compromised by failing the minimum word count requirement, containing only 181 words instead of the required 250. This severely limits the development of ideas. While the writer outlines a position regarding neighbor disputes, environmental impact, and safety risks like fires and earthquakes, the arguments remain underdeveloped and lack sufficient supporting evidence or elaboration. Consequently, the response achieves a Band 5.0 for Task Achievement, as the ideas are limited and the length penalty pulls down an otherwise partial treatment of the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay is divided into three paragraphs, including an introduction and two body paragraphs, showing a basic attempt at structural organisation. However, the progression of ideas is hindered by a lack of an overall conclusion and very basic linking devices such as 'In the one hand' and 'In the other hand' (both of which contain grammatical errors). Cohesive devices are used mechanically and sometimes inaccurately. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the lack of a proper closing paragraph disrupts the overall flow of the text. This aligns well with the Band 5 descriptors, which note some organisation but an absence of clear overall progression and inadequate or inaccurate cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student displays a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using words such as 'vulnerable', 'earthquake', and 'environment'. However, there are numerous word choice and collocation errors, such as 'building burned out' instead of 'burned down', 'making a big problems', 'live at the same building', and translating the French word 'tours' directly into English instead of using 'towers'. Spelling mistakes like 'appartments', 'environement', and 'earthquale' also occur. These noticeable lexical errors and limitations place the response firmly at Band 5.0, as the vocabulary is sufficient for basic communication but contains frequent inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent errors in prepositions and articles, such as 'live at the same building' instead of 'live in the same building', and 'people that lives' instead of 'people who live'. Punctuation is also problematic, as the entire opening paragraph is a run-on sentence joined merely by commas. Complex structures are often faulty and cause some difficulty for the reader. While communication is not entirely obscured, the high density of basic grammatical errors and lack of error-free sentences prevent the writing from reaching Band 6, supporting a Band 5 score.

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

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