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)

t is often argued that the development of big buildings can cover the need for enough homes for residents in crowded cities, while some people believe that this idea results in bad environmental effects and causes pollution. I strongly agree with this view because fewer apartments are needed, and people can still enjoy social events and gatherings.

One major reason why I support this view is that there is less need for large areas for the development of multiple houses and parks. Marketing strategies, on the other hand, use tall buildings for office establishment. For instance, a famous brand, Khaadi, uses large buildings to sell products such as clothes, home appliances, and jewellery. Therefore, individuals don't need to go to separate shops to buy these items and can buy them under one roof. As a result, they save time for other activities.

Another main reason is that in big and crowded places, they socialize more and participate in multiple activities. Social events are organized by committees in such areas so people know each other rather than isolating themselves. For example, neighbours occasionally celebrate birthdays and religious events together. Moreover, invite others to celebrate their happiness together. Every year, a social culture mela is organized by the domestic committee. People of multiple religions come and enjoy different cultures together despite their background. Therefore, they feel less isolated and enjoy good company.

However, in big cities, traffic jams and pollution are big issues. Noise pollution makes people exhausted and leads to stress.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that more social events are a benefical way to get to know each other and that less area is covered by these developments.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially. While the writer states a clear position in the introduction agreeing with the prompt, the main body paragraphs drift significantly away from the housing prompt. Instead of focusing primarily on providing homes in large cities through tall apartment blocks, the discussion shifts into commercial shopping malls, such as the example of Khaadi, and general social events like a 'social culture mela' or birthday celebrations. These ideas are limited and under-developed in relation to the core question of housing. Although the writer touches upon environmental issues briefly in the conclusion, the overall development lacks a sustained focus on the prompt's central theme of urban residential architecture.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response displays some organization, but there is no clear overall progression of ideas. The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'One major reason', 'Another main reason', and 'In conclusion', but these fail to tie the arguments together logically because the content within the paragraphs lacks a clear line of reasoning. For instance, the transition from housing to commercial shopping in the second paragraph feels abrupt and disconnected. Paragraphing is attempted, but the ideas within the paragraphs are repetitive and poorly linked. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly with pronouns like 'they' in phrases like 'in big and crowded places, they socialize more', where the exact antecedent or subject becomes vague.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'exhausted', 'isolation', and 'benefical' (which contains a spelling error), but noticeable errors in word choice and spelling may cause some difficulty for the reader. Phrases like 'cover the need for enough homes' and 'office establishment' demonstrate unnatural collocations. Furthermore, repetition of basic words such as 'big', 'multiple', and 'social' restricts the lexical range. While meaning is generally conveyed, the inaccuracies prevent the writing from achieving a higher level of lexical precision and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that are often faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with prepositions, articles, and verb patterns—for example, 'bad environmental effects' instead of 'adverse environmental effects' and 'less area is covered by these developments' where tense and voice could be handled with more precision. Punctuation and word form errors, such as the misspelling of 'benefical', also appear. These frequent errors require the reader to occasionally pause, placing the grammatical performance firmly within the current band.

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