Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-06

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)

It is believed by some that it is an incredible way that supply is sufficient for residents in big cities with high-rise apartment blocks. I truly agree with this statement, and there are many advantages. In this essay, I will describe all the major advantages and disadvantages.

The main cause is that in urban areas there is no available much place. In tall buildings, there are more public spaces where people can stay there more then their separate apartments. For example In urban area there are live huge number of population because of the opportunities, education, hospitality, they have no enough space to live comfortably. They also live in flats. That consumes not much space, and it can be beneficial for the city's structure.

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages to living in big, tall buildings. People have to pay extra taxes for the lift and other maintenance, whereas in big buildings, the top floor there are best view of the city; for example, nowadays people buy a penthouse, and they like to live there because of less pollution and the best city views. while the build tall apartment need high budget and it is very expensive.

In conclusion, providing enough livelihood in large cities requires infrastructure like tall apartments that can be beneficial for city structure and the public; there are more advantages than disadvantages

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially, and the student's position is not always clearly sustained throughout. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains only 228 words, falling short of the 250-word minimum. The ideas presented are quite limited and under-developed. For instance, the second paragraph attempts to explain why urban areas lack space and how tall buildings create public spaces, but the explanation remains fragmented and unclear, such as the claim that people can stay there 'more then their separate apartments'. While the student states an agreement with the prompt and mentions both advantages and disadvantages, these points lack adequate extension and supporting detail, resulting in a superficial treatment of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation in this response, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, but it lacks a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal structure of the paragraphs is weak, making it difficult to follow the logical flow of ideas. Cohesive devices are often inadequate, inaccurate, or repetitive. For example, transitions like 'The main cause is that', 'On the other hand', and 'In conclusion' are used mechanically rather than to build a smooth, logical argument. Referencing is also unclear at times, such as the vague pronoun use in phrases like 'That consumes not much space', which makes it hard to determine what noun is being referred to.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, but noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and collocation are present, which can occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader. Examples of these inaccuracies include phrases like 'available much place' instead of 'available space', 'huge number of population' instead of 'large population', and 'providing enough livelihood' instead of 'providing enough housing'. Additionally, there are awkward collocations such as 'the build tall apartment need high budget'. However, the vocabulary is still sufficient to convey a basic meaning despite these frequent lexical slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences or attempts at complex sentences that are frequently faulty. There are persistent errors in grammar, articles, prepositions, and subject-verb agreement that can cause difficulty for the reader. Examples include 'it is an incredible way that supply is sufficient', 'there are live huge number of population', 'they have no enough space', and 'while the build tall apartment need high budget'. Punctuation is also problematic, with missing full stops and run-on ideas, such as in the final conclusion sentence where multiple thoughts are joined incorrectly. Overall, the frequency of grammatical errors hinders effective communication.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.