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)

Nowadays urbanisation is spreading rapidly. Also people think that in metro cities building sky scrapers is the best way to provide adeqaute homes. According to me this can't be a solution to it. In this essay i will discuss the points to support my idea.

Firstly, natural disasters and weather conditions plays very crucial role. Many large cities like Mumbai, Shanghai are built on water and there chances of Tsunami near these area, in consequence loss of effort and financial loss is to be faced. In addition the global warming effect is also increasing which makes these tall buildings to trap heat which leads to increase the usage of air conditioner and many families can't afford that much electricity bill and if yes then also the CFC's emited by those pollutes air and damages the Ozone layer as well. Furthermore in my country India every year there is case of tsunami in southern part of the country and that is an example which organisations should keep in mind before deciding to build these tall buildings.

Secondly, these small apartments make the people feel lonely. Nowadays cases of depression, anxiety and lonliness are increasing in urban areas where these type of buildings are already present. To understand this, in my village every family has a home maximum two floors and neighbours are also like family and unlike this apartments has multiple floors and they are very isolated that the people are not even bothered about who is living next door which leads to problems mentioned above. Hence, tall buildings is not the best way to meet the requirement of a place to live.

In conclusion, Natural disaster and weather coniditions can affect negatively to these tall buildings and people living in those can get isolated and feel lonely. Hence, it is not the optimal way satisfy the need of shelter in large cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position against building tall apartment blocks. The ideas are generally relevant, discussing natural disasters and psychological isolation. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack extension. For instance, the argument regarding global warming and air conditioning costs is introduced but not fully explained in relation to the prompt. Similarly, the point about natural disasters mentions Mumbai and Shanghai, but the example shifts to tsunamis in southern India rather than robustly supporting the city housing argument. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to extend and support all main arguments with deeper reasoning and more precise, relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct ideas, such as environmental and psychological concerns. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Devices like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'In addition' are used, but referencing and transitions between sentences can feel abrupt, such as the sudden shift from global warming to air conditioning costs. Additionally, the progression of ideas within paragraphs occasionally lacks smooth links. To improve, the writer should ensure that cohesive devices connect ideas more naturally and that the logical relationship between sentences is consistently clear throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'urbanisation', 'adequate', and 'isolation'. However, there are notable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and spelling that reflect a limited command of lexical control. Examples include spelling errors like 'adeqaute', 'sky scrapers', 'emited', and 'coniditions', as well as awkward phrasing such as 'there chances of Tsunami near these area' and 'the global warming effect is also increasing which makes these tall buildings to trap heat'. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they prevent the response from achieving a higher lexical score. Using more precise vocabulary and checking spelling carefully would elevate this aspect.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like conditional and relative clauses. There are several errors in grammar and punctuation, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('weather conditions plays', 'there is case'), missing articles ('in consequence loss of effort'), and awkward prepositional usage ('tensions in southern part'). Furthermore, run-on structures appear, such as 'Furthermore in my country India every year there is case of tsunami in southern part of the country and that is an example which organisations should keep in mind...'. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they occur regularly enough to restrict the score. Greater control over complex sentence patterns and punctuation accuracy is required for further progress.

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