Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-04

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)

Some people argue that the best way to provide enough homes in larger cities is to build tall apartment blocks. I partially agree with this statement, as it has the benefit of having more place for individuals to live. But the cost of tall buildings may increase the prices of apartments.

There are millions of individuals who come to large cities for studies and jobs. They need place to live in cities. The tall apartment blocks can help large cities to solve that particular problem, as they can provide rooms for those individuals in a small peice of land. For instance, one canal single story building can only provide living to 8 to 10 persons. But a ten story building can provide rooms for 80 to 100 individuals.

However, the cost of building tall apartment blocks may also increase the cost and rent of the apartment. The owners build tall blocks because they want to make profit from that building, that can effect the cost of apartment. For example, one of the most expensive apartments are in the tallest building of the world. Tall buildings like burf khailfa are now a sign of royality as well.

In conclusion, tall building apartments could be the best approach to provide enough homes for people. But those homes would be very much expensive for common individuals. This makes us come to a conclusion that tall building apartments can only solve the problem of homes for people if the prices for constrution are low enough.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your response addresses the prompt by discussing the extent to which you agree with building tall apartment blocks, maintaining a clear position throughout. However, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains 243 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum (with 8 words copied directly from the task prompt excluded from the count). While you present relevant ideas regarding how high-rise buildings accommodate large populations on small plots of land, these ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, your example comparing a single-story building to a ten-story building is a good start, but it lacks broader extension and detailed support. Similarly, your counterargument regarding costs and luxury branding is introduced rather briefly without fully exploring alternative socio-economic impacts. To reach higher bands, you need to write slightly more to meet the word count and fully develop your supporting examples with greater depth and elaboration.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from your introduction through your body paragraphs to your conclusion. You make use of basic cohesive devices such as 'For instance', 'However', and 'In conclusion' to signal shifts in your argument, which allows the reader to follow your general train of thought. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, separating your introduction, two body points, and conclusion into distinct blocks. However, cohesion can sometimes feel a bit mechanical or repetitive in transitions. To move further up the scale, you would need to employ a wider and more flexible variety of cohesive devices more naturally, ensure seamless referencing throughout your sentences, and refine the logical flow between your main ideas and supporting evidence so that progression feels entirely effortless.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to urban housing such as 'apartment blocks', 'population', 'construction', and 'prices'. You attempt some less common vocabulary items like 'royalty' and 'approach', though these show some inaccuracy in word choice and collocation, as 'royalty' is misused in place of luxury or status symbols. There are also notable spelling and word-form errors that appear across the text, such as 'peice', 'effect' instead of 'affect', 'burf khailfa', and 'expensive' used alongside 'very much'. These noticeable errors sometimes cause slight friction for the reader. To improve this area, you should focus on expanding your precise vocabulary range, checking spelling carefully, and learning accurate collocations and word forms to express your ideas with greater style and clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

Your writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to vary your structures through conditional clauses and relative structures. However, you rely heavily on basic sentence patterns, and your attempts at complex sentences frequently contain structural or grammatical errors. There are frequent errors in articles, plurals, verb agreements, and prepositions within grammatical patterns, such as 'more place for individuals', 'They need place to live', 'one canal single story building', and 'one of the most expensive apartments are'. These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher band, you need to demonstrate a wider range of error-free complex structures, exercise better control over articles and pluralisation, and carefully proofread your sentences to reduce basic grammatical slips.

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

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