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)

The idea of providing great sort of accomodation to people living in urban areas is to design buildings with multiple floors. Whereas people have mixed opinions on this, I agree with this point of view of having a shared place.

Due to having alot of development in cities it was quite hard for people to built their seprate houses. Firstly, the increased cost of land make it impossible for most of the people in this economy to buy a land on their own and then build a house. While buying a apartment is more convenient and suitale option and less burdensome. Secondly, while living in a shared building it could be a great way for those who are socialable and likes to meet and talk to new peoples on daily basis to make new connections and friends. Thirdly this idea allow greater options to start more well developed society by having schools, universities, hospitals, markets and other useful development on the spared land.

On the other hand, it has some negative factors too like first of all for people who used to live in open and airy houses in rural areas cannot easily adjust used to conjusted suits. For larger familes living together it maybe a bad option as it could had less space and almost no privacy. Adding to that city life is already hectic from day to night it was the constant hustle and bustle, living in a shared building having new meeting and managment followup on weekly basis would be trouble for people who want peace and quite in their life.

Concluding all the views on building tall building and appartments instead of having seprate houses with lawns and additional spaces which is of no use to most of the people, I completely agree with the idea of saving space and using it for better future and outcome.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, agreeing with the statement that tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide homes. Relevant ideas are introduced, such as the economic feasibility of buying apartments over separate houses, the social opportunities of shared living, and the freed-up land for community infrastructure. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack sufficient extension. For instance, the point regarding space for schools and hospitals is stated briefly without being fully explained. Similarly, the counterarguments regarding reduced privacy and lack of familiarity with high-rise living are raised in a single block but lack specific examples or deeper exploration. To move to a higher level, each main idea should be extended with more detailed explanations or concrete illustrations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance established in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. Paragraphing is used adequately to separate the introduction, the main body points supporting the view, the counter-perspective, and the conclusion. However, cohesion at the sentence level is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Transitional markers like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Thirdly' are used to list points, but referencing and logical links within paragraphs occasionally feel abrupt. For example, the transition from housing costs to social connection feels somewhat disjointed due to limited cohesive ties. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to ensure smoother transitions between sentences and more varied, flexible cohesive devices rather than relying heavily on basic listing words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating central ideas about urban housing and living conditions. There are noticeable attempts to use less common items and descriptive phrases, such as 'congested suits' (intended as suites), 'hustle and bustle', and 'economic feasibility'. However, there are frequent spelling, word choice, and word form errors that occasionally impede smooth reading, such as 'accomodation' instead of accommodation, 'alot' instead of a lot, 'built' instead of build, and 'suitale' instead of suitable. Collocations are sometimes awkward, for instance, 'management followup'. To reach a higher lexical band, the student must expand their vocabulary control, refine word choices for precision, and eliminate basic spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating that the writer can handle multi-clause structures such as in the sentence 'While buying a apartment is more convenient and suitale option and less burdensome.' However, there are frequent errors in grammar, punctuation, and article usage throughout the text that cause some difficulty for the reader. Issues include subject-verb agreement and tense inconsistencies, such as 'make it impossible' instead of 'makes it impossible', 'buy a land' (uncountable noun), and 'it could had less space'. Punctuation is also weak in places, leading to run-on sentences or missing commas. To improve this criterion, the writer should focus on mastering basic sentence structures, ensuring agreement, using articles correctly, and reducing the frequency of grammatical slips.

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

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