Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03

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 6.5)

With the ever increasing residents in the major cities, high rise apartment buildings are being seen as a viable option to accomodate those residents. While some people contradict with the proposal, I believe it is the most feasible option to accomodate the increased demand for housing in upscale cities.

Environmentalists and human right activists argue against the building of these high rise buildings, citing the environment impacts caused by the emissions during the building of these building along with the poor construction worker conditions that have caused deaths at times. For example during the building of high rise building in Doha, Qatar many international media outlets reported the deaths of workers during construction. On the other hand the extended use of cranes and construction machinery to build such large scale impacts would increase the amount of carbon emissions causing further global warming. While these are valid arguments they can be solved with the right intiatives.

The demand to supply ratio for housing in all the major cities throughout the world has casued a housing crisis leading to high rental prices. As all financial and commercial hubs lie near the city centre, working individuals prefer to live near them. The residential areas near these hubs is not enough to let everyone live there. The only adequate solution to accomodate everyone would be to build apartments with a higher number of floor so everyone can be fitted. This will also lead to a decline in rental prices and help increase business oppurtunities for people in those vicinities. For example when the population of Singapore increased they resorted to building high rise hotels and apartments as they had no other option due to the small size of the country and its sole city. Accomodating everyone near the city would require people to commute less as well which would reduce the carbon emitted by cars during commute.

While the negative effects of building tall apartment building cannot be denied, thay are solveable problems which can be resolved by taking the correct steps. To accomodate the increasing demand of housing in large cities the only feasible option still seems to be building these apartment blocks and helping people live closer to where they need to be regularly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position throughout in favour of tall apartment blocks. You introduce relevant ideas, such as environmental concerns regarding construction and the housing crisis caused by population growth. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For example, your exploration of the housing crisis and Singapore's urban planning is extended well, but the counter-argument regarding worker conditions and carbon emissions in the second paragraph is somewhat under-developed and abruptly concluded with a general statement that they can be solved with the right initiatives. To reach a higher band, you would need to fully extend and develop all of your supporting points with equal depth and nuance, avoiding any tendency to over-generalise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logic that guides the reader from your introduction through to your conclusion. You use paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately, dedicating each paragraph to a distinct theme such as counter-arguments, causes of the crisis, and proposed solutions. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. Phrases like 'For example during the building of high rise building' lack smooth integration, and referencing is not always completely clear. Furthermore, some transitional phrases feel a bit repetitive. To progress further, you need to employ cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure that referencing between sentences is seamless and unobtrusive throughout the entire text.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'viable option', 'feasible option', and 'commercial hubs'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that reflect a Band 6 level. For instance, you misspelled 'accomodate' (accommodate), 'contradict with' (disagree with), 'environment impacts' (environmental impacts), 'intiatives' (initiatives), 'casued' (caused), and 'oppurtunities' (opportunities). While these slips do not seriously impede communication, they prevent you from achieving a higher band. To improve, you should expand your control of less common vocabulary, check your spelling rigorously, and ensure your collocations are entirely natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You successfully use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over relative clauses and conditional structures. There are, however, some errors in grammar and punctuation throughout your text, such as missing commas after introductory phrases ('For example during the building...'), prepositional slips, and minor agreement issues like 'building tall apartment building' instead of buildings. Fortunately, these errors rarely impede communication and do not obscure your meaning. To achieve a higher band, you must produce a greater frequency of error-free sentences using a wider variety of complex structures while tightening your control over punctuation and article usage.

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

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