Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-02

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)

Housing in large cities is a huge problem because of increase in population of people entering in the city for better lifestyle , few solutions proposed to solve this problem is by building tall apartment , and i have positive opinion for this solution

early cities where planned with considering a stable growth in population , however increase in economy , better life and carrier opportunity people started to move bigger city but the issue was housing as it had only few limited house were available

Lets see how new york over came this problem as it became the capital of banking and stock market in the US which offered huge salaries for brokers, analyst , manager positions to move with there families to new york so the new york state government

offered subsidy to build tall building for house and offices in the city which attracted alot builder to build tall building

this opportunity also provided other benefits related people and government by income alot of different people all round world to make multicultural place which would attract business for these people and taxes collected by the government would build better infrastructure for upcoming people

however alot of problem increase when population density increase if there is sufficient housing ,if not this would create demand of houses which would proportionally increase the prices of housing

which would then lead to housing crisis where people would be homeless and would be living in public places , by this overall it increase in crime in the city

In conclusion i would say that providing housing in large cities in tall apartment would help people find a living place which is better than travelling from outside the city

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position on whether tall apartment blocks are the best solution for urban housing. Relevant ideas are introduced, such as the economic drivers of migration to cities and the potential consequences of housing shortages. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For example, the discussion surrounding New York provides a relevant historical example of how government subsidies encouraged vertical growth, but the elaboration on the resulting multiculturalism and infrastructure is somewhat tangential to the core prompt. Similarly, the points regarding population density and rising prices are raised but lack deep exploration, meaning the argument tends to over-generalise in places rather than sustaining a fully developed line of reasoning throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a discernible progression of ideas from the introduction of the problem to historical context, benefits, potential risks, and a final conclusion. However, cohesion is often mechanical and sometimes faulty. There is a heavy reliance on run-on sentences and comma splices rather than appropriate full stops or varied cohesive devices, as seen in sentences like 'Lets see how new york over came this problem...'. Furthermore, referencing is not always clear, and paragraphing is irregular, with massive blocks of text like the third paragraph lacking internal signposting or logical subdivision, which disrupts the flow and makes the transitions between ideas less smooth than expected for a higher standard.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, providing a minimally sufficient range of terms to communicate basic ideas about housing, population, and urban development. The writer attempts less common vocabulary, such as 'multicultural place' and 'housing crisis', but this is accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and form, such as 'increase in population of people entering in the city' and 'income alot of different people'. Spelling and word-choice errors, including missing plural markers and awkward phrasing like 'living place', occur frequently, yet they do not heavily impede overall communication, placing the lexical range firmly within an adequate category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text displays a limited range of structures, relying mostly on basic sentence patterns alongside attempts at complex structures that are frequently faulty. There are persistent errors in grammar, punctuation, and articles throughout the response, such as missing capitalisation ('new york'), incorrect preposition usage ('entering in the city'), and faulty verb tenses ('early cities where planned'). Complex sentences often contain structural flaws, and the almost total absence of correct punctuation—such as ending clauses with commas instead of periods—results in frequent structural breakdowns. These errors require some effort from the reader to untangle meaning, reflecting a restricted control over grammatical forms.

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