Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-30

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 6.5)

The most effective way to avail adequate housing in big cities is to construct high rise apartment blocks. I would agree to a great extent with this statement, because of a number of factors that are characteristic of large towns.

Firstly, most cities have constraints when it comes to available space so urban planning may not have enough land for villas or individual bungalows spread out in the city. In absence of space for these sparse type of buildings, constructing skyscraper blocks upwards saves in required land. A good example of this is a common site in many big towns where tall apartment blocks can accomodate hundreds of households. Imagine the land acquisition crisis that would have occur if sparse bungalow blocks were to replace these tall buildings.

Secondly, certaing supporting infrastructure makes more economic sense when shared in an area with tall apartment blocks. Provision of garbage collection points, power sources, water heating, amenities like pharmacies, gyms, malls, shops and transport termination points, are more conveniently located within or adjacent to such buildings, saving up on cost or timing that would be required if such homes were to be single of two floor homes that few and far between. This is because, more units of these infrastructure would need to be built.

However, it's worth noting that there are also challenges associated with the putting up tall apartments for providing city dwelling places. For example, they may interfere with sensitive infrastructure such as overhead cables, communications masts or airports because of the challenges in safety needed for clearing plane take-off or landing heights.

In conclusion, constructing sky-scraper housing blocks has more merits than demerits for providing adequate homes for big cities, once proper planning has been factored in to counter the few challenges that come with it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position agreeing with the statement and supporting it with logical arguments about land scarcity and infrastructure efficiency. The ideas are generally well extended, as seen in the discussion about land acquisition crises and shared municipal services. However, some arguments could be further developed with deeper analysis, placing this response comfortably at a Band 7.0 level. The writer clearly addresses the prompt without straying off-topic, maintaining a coherent stance from the introduction through to the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The essay is divided into appropriate paragraphs, each beginning with a logical signpost such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'However'. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, though there are minor mechanical elements or slight awkwardness in phrasing transitions. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate distinct ideas, including the counterargument in the fourth paragraph. Referencing is mostly clear, and the overall structure follows a standard, effective IELTS essay format, supporting a Band 7.0 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision, such as 'constraints', 'urban planning', and 'infrastructure'. There are attempts at less common items like 'sparse type of buildings' and 'land acquisition crisis', although some word choices are slightly unnatural or contain minor errors, such as 'avail adequate housing' (instead of 'provide') and 'accomodate' (spelling slip). Collocation is generally acceptable, and vocabulary does not impede communication, placing the response at a Band 6.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures like 'Imagine the land acquisition crisis that would have occur...' (which contains a minor verb form error: 'have occurred'). There are several minor grammatical and punctuation errors throughout, such as 'certaing' (typographical error), 'in absence of space', and missing articles, but these errors rarely impede communication and the majority of simple sentences are accurate. This performance aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.