Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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)

The best and very suitable way to provide people with enough homes in big cities is the construction of tall apartment buildings. I strongly agree with this statement and i think it is the effective way to provide people with sheltor along with many other necessary facilities.

Landed houses occupy a lot of land space. When more land is dedicated for the residential purposes a very less is left behind for other purposes like schools, universities, parks, malls, hospitals, roads, and many more. It affects the availability of basic facilities on a shorter distance. It causes inconvenience for people specially when there is a situation of emergency. Less roads also leads to heavy traffic or even road blocks leading to many other problems.

The landed houses make the city look over loaded and more dense even if the population is very low. On the other hand when population is very high that usually happens in mega cities then there arises crisis of homes for people which broadly affects the costs and rents of the homes. In the big cities there live a lot of people who come from small cities or villages in order to get better employment or business opportunities and they mostly live in rental houses. when the rental prices are very high a lot of their earning is spent on the houses leaving behind a less amount to send back to their families.

When houses are constructed vertically, the less land is used. There remains a lot of space which can be effectively used for other basic necessities as mentioned above. And their number can also be increased. For example: schools, colleges, markets and hospitals can be constructed near every residential place. It creates convenience and better quality of life for people. It also helps to overcome the problem of unavailability and costs of homes in big cities. The tall buildings also increase the beauty and improve infrastructure of big cities. Wide roads can be constructed which help to pass through heavy traffic during peak hours and it also save time. Space can be dedicated to parks with greenery and plants to make environment clean and pure.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position agreeing that tall apartment blocks are the best solution for urban housing. The main ideas are relevant and supported, explaining how vertical construction saves land for essential facilities like schools, hospitals, and parks, and how it mitigates housing crises. However, some parts of the argument are under-developed compared to others. For instance, the discussion on how landed houses cause traffic issues is introduced but not fully expanded into a more robust societal argument. To reach a higher level, the ideas would need more fully extended support and deeper exploration of counter-arguments or nuanced urban planning factors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear central topic maintained throughout the paragraphs. The response is divided into logical paragraphs that each focus on a specific aspect, such as the drawbacks of landed houses and the benefits of vertical living. Cohesion is present, but it can sometimes feel slightly mechanical or repetitive in how sentences are linked, such as the frequent reliance on simple transitional phrases. Referencing is generally clear, though occasional shifts in cohesion make the logical progression feel a bit straightforward rather than seamlessly integrated. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure smoother transitions between complex paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'mega cities', 'infrastructure', and 'vertical living'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing, such as 'provide people with sheltor' (shelter), 'on a shorter distance' (at a shorter distance), and 'over loaded'. Spelling and word-choice errors are present, but they do not impede communication. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to demonstrate greater precision and flexibility in lexical choice, avoiding colloquial expressions and ensuring that less common vocabulary items are used accurately and naturally in context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response shows a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use varied structures such as conditional and relative clauses. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles ('dedicated for the residential purposes', 'leads to heavy traffic'), minor subject-verb agreement slips ('Less roads also leads'), and lowercase pronouns ('i think'). However, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication. To move up to the next band, the writer must produce a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and demonstrate tighter control over articles, prepositions within grammatical patterns, and punctuation.

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

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