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, homelessness has become an increasingly important issue in modern society. It is said that this problem can be solved by providing apartment homes to people in big cities. I agree this completely and I would discuss its advantages.

One major advantage of building flats for people is that they could get economic security and face less expenses. This is because they may be facilitated with resources at a low cost by reducing their financial burden. As a result they could manage their expeses within a budget. For instance, housing socities in many cities provide flats with less charges which helps them financially.Moreover people residing in apartments live togather and form valuable by forming a community togather. This is because neighbours are relatively closer and they make a good connection with each other.As a result they help each other during challenging situations.I believe that this coud help them to live a peaceful life in urban areas.

On the other hand one major disadvantage of having residential apartments blocks is that people access to resources become limited. The main reason is that they have to provide large number of homes which in turn causes shortage of facilities. As a result they hav to face many problems . For example socities supply water only at a fixed time which is not sufficiant.

In conclusion, although building apartments in large cities provide some disadvantages, I believe that advantages are significantly more than drawbacks because they provide houses to all the population in limited space.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by presenting an opinion on tall apartment blocks, though the development of ideas remains somewhat limited and superficial. The writer states an agreement with the statement and outlines advantages and disadvantages, such as economic security and limited facility access. However, these points lack sufficient elaboration and specific real-world examples, relying instead on generalized assertions like "housing societies in many cities provide flats with less charges." Furthermore, the position is somewhat blurred by discussing a disadvantage ("On the other hand one major disadvantage...") despite stating an overall agreement, leading to a tendency to present underdeveloped arguments rather than a fully extended discussion. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to explore each main idea more deeply with robust explanations and concrete, specific examples rather than brief, generalized statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilized, and basic cohesive devices such as "This is because," "As a result," and "On the other hand" are employed to connect ideas. However, the cohesion can occasionally feel mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is not always completely clear. For instance, transitional phrases are heavily relied upon in a formulaic manner, and the logical progression between sentences within the body paragraphs occasionally stumbles due to abrupt shifts in thought. To achieve a higher level, the writer should use a wider variety of cohesive devices more flexibly, ensure smoother transitions between sentences and paragraphs, and refine the overall flow so that the progression of arguments feels entirely natural and unobtrusive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for tackling the prompt, attempting some less common items such as "economic security," "financial burden," and "residential apartments blocks." However, the lexical resource is constrained by noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and collocation, such as writing "face less expenses" instead of "face lower expenses," "with less charges" instead of "at lower charges," and "people access to resources become limited" instead of "people's access to resources becomes limited." There are also awkward phrasings like "live togather and form valuable by forming a community togather," which contain spelling mistakes ("togather") and redundant repetitions. To improve lexical performance, the writer must expand their control of less common vocabulary, pay closer attention to natural collocations, eliminate spelling errors, and ensure accurate word forms in various grammatical contexts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The text demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures with dependent clauses using words like "because" and "although." However, the grammatical accuracy is affected by frequent errors, particularly in article usage, pluralisation, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions within grammatical patterns. Examples of these errors include "providing apartment homes," "reducing their financial burden," "expeses," "socities supply water," and missing apostrophes for possession or plural forms. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur regularly throughout the text, preventing it from reaching a higher band where error-free sentences would be much more common. To elevate the grammar score, the writer needs to demonstrate better control over complex sentence patterns, carefully check subject-verb agreements, and eliminate persistent mechanical errors in punctuation and articles.

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