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)

Developing a high-rise building is often considered the best way to construct homes in big cities; I completely agree with this statement. Building a high-rise apartment complex makes sure that a minimum amount of land is used and improves efficiency. It is also a cost-effective solution because utilities and public transit are cheaper to build and maintain.

When millions of people live in a metropolitan city, it becomes more difficult to provide housing to all inhabitants of the city. Each piece of land becomes more valuable and out of reach for ordinary citizens. Tall apartment complexes improve efficiency marginly by building vertically so thousands of people can live in a relatively small area of land. For example, huge cities like Hong Kong and New York build apartment complexes on limited geographical land to solve their housing crises and expand the city limits.

Another advantage of centralized housing in tall buildings is it makes building public transport and providing utilities to residents much simpler and cost-effective. Governments can build metro stations near densely packed apartment buildings so residents have easy access to public transport. People would prefer public transport so there is less money spent on maintaining roads. Also, when thousands of people live in localized places, utilities can easily be provided to them; for example, municipal governments can provide them with water. electricity and high-speed internet without extending miles of piping and fibers

In conclusion, tall building apartment complexes are definitely the best way to provide enough homes in big cities, as they help in making use of limited land available. They also help citizens get better utilities and public facilities while being cost-effective

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position agreeing that tall apartment blocks are the best solution for urban housing. Your ideas are extended and supported, such as when you mention Hong Kong and New York as examples of high-density vertical living, which bridges your main arguments well. However, there is a slight tendency to over-generalise regarding how utilities and transportation are easily managed. To reach the next level, you could further develop your supporting points by exploring potential challenges, such as infrastructure strain, to provide an even more fully rounded discussion while maintaining your clear viewpoint throughout the essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. You successfully use paragraphs to structure your ideas, with an introduction, body paragraphs focusing on land efficiency and infrastructure, and a clear conclusion. You use cohesive devices adequately, such as 'Another advantage' and 'In conclusion', to guide the reader smoothly through your arguments. To move towards a higher band, you could use a wider and more flexible variety of cohesive devices rather than relying on standard connectors, and ensure that referencing between sentences is entirely seamless, avoiding any mechanical transitions between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and phrasing such as 'metropolitan city', 'vertically', and 'centralized housing'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form, such as writing 'marginly' instead of 'marginally', and 'limited geographical land' rather than 'geographical area'. These occasional errors do not impede communication, but they reflect a mid-level lexical control. To achieve a higher band, you need to use a wider range of vocabulary with greater precision, style, and natural collocation, while entirely eliminating word-choice inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

Your writing shows a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating your ability to construct compound and complex clauses like 'When millions of people live in a metropolitan city, it becomes more difficult...' You exhibit good control of grammar overall, and your errors rarely impede communication. However, there are persistent minor errors, such as missing articles ('water. electricity and high-speed internet'), punctuation slips, and a minor punctuation run-on at the end of your third paragraph where a period is missing. To reach the next level, you need to produce a higher frequency of error-free sentences and demonstrate tighter control over punctuation and article usage within complex structures.

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

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