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 better approach to give sufficient homes in huge urban cities is to manufacture high apartment blocks. It is an assist to avoid scarcity of land. This essay will discuss both the extents of agree and disagree as well as a reasonable conclusion.

To begin with, I agree by the statement to offer enough housing by the approach of building high apartment floors in urban areas. Due to the fact that, it can be large enough for the residents of that urban city. Additionally, it prevents us from the land scarcity. For instance, a place where buildings are large sufficient for their individuals, the empty places can be transformed to play grounds for the children. As a result, the environment will be cleared and relaxed.

Moreover, the people in a single big apartment will be connected with each other. Furthermore, they will spend fascinating time by contacting rapidly with each other. For example, different dishes can be exchanged between various blocks of apartment. As a result, there will be an unbreakable unity among them and no one will be able to separate them.

In contrast, some people argue that manufacturing large apartments can be extremely dangerous during the earthquake. Since earthquakes shake large buildings easily and have the potential to fall down huge apartments. For instance, there are numerous incidents where people died in big apartments during severe earthquake. By and large , it is quite risky to manufacture high apartments. In addition, as compared to a separate homes on land, it is a bit challenging for the old age people to climb upstairs when they can not use lift.

Ultimately, better way to build high apartments is beneficial to prevent land deficiency as well as to connect people through easy approach. However, it is difficult to elders to climb to upper parts of the building. By and large, this approach would be extremely positive in future if overcomes can be find for elders.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially, covering both sides of the argument regarding tall apartment blocks, but the development of ideas is limited and under-developed. For example, the student mentions that empty spaces can be transformed into playgrounds, but this point lacks sufficient extension and support. The writer's position is discernible, yet the introduction announces that the essay will discuss 'both the extents of agree and disagree,' which is a slightly confused formulation for a single-stance or to-what-extent prompt. While all parts of the prompt are touched upon, the lack of fully elaborated arguments keeps the response at this level. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to fully develop each main point with deeper explanation and specific, elaborated examples rather than relying on brief general statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, using distinct paragraphs for the introduction, supporting points, counter-arguments, and conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and repetitive, seen in the frequent use of transition markers like 'To begin with,' 'Moreover,' 'Furthermore,' and 'In contrast.' Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous pronoun reference in 'when they can not use lift.' While the progression of ideas is generally understandable, the links between sentences can feel forced rather than natural. To achieve a higher score, the writer should employ a wider variety of cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure that referencing within and between sentences is tighter and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items, such as 'scarcity of land,' 'deficiency,' and 'unbreakable unity,' but these attempts are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'give sufficient homes' instead of 'provide sufficient homes,' 'manufacture high apartment blocks' instead of 'construct tall apartment blocks,' and 'agree by the statement' instead of 'agree with the statement.' Additionally, there are awkward phrasings like 'spend fascinating time by contacting rapidly.' These lexical inaccuracies and limitations sometimes cause difficulty for the reader. To improve, the student needs to build a broader range of academic vocabulary and pay closer attention to natural collocations and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a limited range of structures and attempts complex sentences that are frequently faulty. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, including problems with articles ('a separate homes on land'), prepositions ('agree by the statement'), subject-verb agreement ('if overcomes can be find'), and pluralization ('old age people'). Although a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms is attempted, the high frequency of grammatical slips causes some difficulty for the reader. To move up to the next band, the student must increase control over basic sentence patterns, improve accuracy in verb forms, and reduce the number of grammatical errors by producing more frequent error-free sentences.

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

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