Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-01

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)

Tall-building apartments are the best way to provide housing in large urban areas. I completely agree with this statement, as the population is growing the mass of the Earth is not enough to support millions of people in one place.

On the one hand, population is the major cause; over time, the population is increasing day by day, and land available for housing is getting less day after day. In a good area, houses are not enough; it requires a park, a commercial building for goods, recreational areas, as well as shopping centres. For instance if I give close example Punjab is one of the provinces of Pakistan and the population is in millions andthe area is not suffiecent to bear this much people, because of extensive housing there is much pollution as people has no other choice rather than making houses near industries which ultimately effects their health and physical activities The more the houses are the lesser the facilities and resources are. For example, if there are 100 houses in the area where only 30 houses should be constructed, the water table will get down, as on samll areawater is being extracted more than the area has, and a shortage of water leads to the container systems in which people have to pay for water.

On the other hand, if apartments were constructed, it would be easier to give facilities to all the people of the area equally. Similarly, communities will get more parks for adults and children; more green facilities will be provided to the people.

In conclusion, apartments can make people life more easier than a dense population in one place. The government should make policies that support tall-building apartments to ensure the resources and facilities that should be provided equally to all prople.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially by presenting a clear position agreeing with the statement, but the ideas remain limited and under-developed. While the writer attempts to explain why tall apartment blocks are beneficial, the reasoning often drifts into tangential issues, such as general population growth and broad environmental concerns. For instance, the discussion about Punjab in Pakistan and the local water table is introduced as an example, but its direct link to the housing solution is not fully articulated. To reach a higher level, the ideas would need to be more fully extended and supported with relevant, well-focused arguments directly tied to urban planning and housing capacity, avoiding repetitive generalisations about space constraints.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation in the essay, with a clear attempt to divide the response into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion using basic signposts like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. However, the progression of ideas lacks clarity overall, and the connections between sentences can feel disjointed. Cohesive devices are sometimes inadequate or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as pronouns whose antecedents are vague. Paragraphing is present, but the internal logical flow within paragraphs needs more careful structuring. To improve, the writer should ensure that each sentence builds logically upon the previous one and that cohesive links are used smoothly to guide the reader through the argument without mechanical transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey the basic message. The writer relies on simple and sometimes repetitive terminology, such as 'facilities', 'houses', and 'population'. There are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling, such as 'suffiecent' instead of 'sufficient', 'samll areawater' instead of 'small area water', and 'people life' instead of 'people's lives'. These lexical shortcomings and inaccuracies cause some difficulty for the reader and reveal a restricted range of vocabulary. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical repertoire, incorporate less common vocabulary with greater precision, and pay closer attention to correct spelling and word formation in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay displays a limited range of sentence structures, with frequent reliance on basic patterns and some faulty attempts at complex sentences. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with subject-verb agreement, article usage, plurals, and prepositions, such as 'as population is growing the mass of the Earth is not enough', 'people has no other choice rather than making houses', and 'this much people'. Punctuation errors, such as run-on sentences lacking proper commas or periods, also occur frequently. These errors can cause some difficulty and strain for the reader. To progress to a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate a greater variety of complex structures with improved accuracy and a lower frequency of basic grammatical mistakes.

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

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