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)
In recent years, urban population growth has created a severe shortage of housing in major cities worldwide.Many people believe that constructing high-rise apartment blocks is the most effective way to address this problem.I completely agree that building tall complexes maximizes limited land, but I also believe that expanding suburban infrastructure is equally essential.
To began with ,constructing high rising building is the most paratical solution to address land scarcity in major cities.This is because their are number family and individual servive in aportment insted of built a singal house on same place to provide a shelter to solo family.In metropolition area their is shortage of housing worldwide. A clear example of this can be seen in megacities such as Tokyo and Singapore, where controlling the housing crisis would have been impossible without high-rise buildings.Therefore, high rising play vital role in major citie and where papulation rise throughout the period.
On the other hand, due to rise number or tail buildings in capital cities cover the whole city and reduce the beauty because city cover from all direction in tail apartmrnt. Furthermore,due to vartical complex may also impact on roads,public transport and Waste disposal system.For example, developing sub-urban areas twith fast metro links provides a healthy, spacious living environment. Therefore,their is special attension required to link sub urban area link to citiesinstrd of complex virticals.
In conclusion, although high-rise buildings are essential to tackle severe land scarcity in major cities, they can strain urban infrastructure and compromise city aesthetics. Therefore, authorities should balance vertical development with well-connected suburban housing to achieve sustainable urban growth.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, establishing a clear position that high-rise buildings are necessary for land scarcity while also considering infrastructure and suburban alternatives. However, the development of ideas is uneven. While the introduction of Tokyo and Singapore provides a relevant example, other points such as the mention of 'number family and individual servive in aportment' are underdeveloped and unclear. Some ideas are repetitive or over-generalized, placing the response solidly in this category. To reach a higher level, every main idea needs to be fully extended and supported with clearer reasoning and more consistent examples throughout all body paragraphs.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different arguments, such as the benefits of high-rises versus their drawbacks. However, cohesion at the sentence level is sometimes mechanical or faulty, with referencing that is not always clear, as seen in phrases like 'Therefore, high rising play vital role' and 'due to vartical complex may also impact'. The use of cohesive devices is adequate but lacks smooth progression. To improve, the writer should ensure that transitions between sentences are more natural and that pronouns and referencing words point clearly to their antecedents.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'urban population growth', 'land scarcity', and 'megacities'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, word form, and spelling throughout the text, including 'paratical', 'servive', 'aportment', 'singal', 'metropolition', 'papulation', 'tail' instead of 'tall', and 'vurticals'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the score. To progress to a higher band, the writer must expand their control of word forms and spelling, and select vocabulary more precisely to convey meaning naturally without frequent slips.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional and subordinate clauses. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as article omissions ('on same place'), subject-verb agreement issues ('their are number family'), and prepositions inside grammatical patterns ('twith fast metro links'). These errors are frequent enough to cause some difficulty for the reader at times, though they rarely obscure the overall meaning completely. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free sentences and exercise tighter control over basic agreement, plurals, and punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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