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)

In recent years, it is often argued that in metropolitan cities is to construct tall apatment blocks. Some people believe that effective way to address housing shortage in large citites, while other hold different opinion like overcrowding and quality of life. I completely agree with this view because tall buildings are useful to save land in big cities.

The primary resaon why I agree is that high-rise buildings can accomodate hundreds of families on a small piece of land. This is because large cities have limited land to live. For instance, cities such as mumbai have many high-rise buildings because more apartments in one building can increase the housing supply available place is limited. Therefore, tall building blocks are build to provide affordable housing for middle-income families.

Another important reason is that tall buildings have an option to better access to facilities, such as apartment complexes can include shops, gyms, parking, hospital and recreational areas. Furthurmore, these apartments can be construct near public transport, schools and offices. For example, A person having urgent work he suddenly needs a bus when we are staying in apartments near to our building public bus stop was available. As a result, tall buildings are more useful for every individuals who are living in big cities.

To conclude, I firmly believe that it ia best way to provide homes in big cities is to construct high-rise apartment blocks because it can give homes to hundereds of familiess with in a limited area and providing better access to facilities to the people who living the community. Therefore, I believe that construct large buildings in the metropolitan cities to provide homes for people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting a clear position agreeing with the statement and maintaining it throughout the essay. The main ideas, such as saving land space and providing better access to facilities, are relevant to the prompt. However, some ideas are under-developed or supported with weak reasoning. For instance, the second paragraph mentions Mumbai as an example, but the explanation lacks depth. Similarly, the personal example in the third body paragraph is confusingly phrased and fails to effectively support the point about facility access. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to extend and support all arguments with well-developed explanations and more robust, universally relevant examples rather than vague anecdotes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing the features of higher bands. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate main ideas. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is not always clear, which keeps the response at this level. For instance, transitional markers like 'The primary reason why I agree is that' and 'Another important reason is that' are a bit formulaic. Additionally, referencing words in sentences like 'when we are staying in apartments near to our building public bus stop was available' create confusion about who is being referred to. To improve further, the writer should ensure smoother logical transitions between sentences and employ more flexible and natural cohesive devices without relying heavily on repetitive templates.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate their basic arguments about urban housing. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'metropolitan cities', 'housing shortage', and 'high-rise buildings'. However, there are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word form that reflect a limited resource. Examples include typos and incorrect word forms like 'apatment' instead of apartment, 'resaon' instead of reason, 'accomodate' with a missing 'm', and phrases like 'construct large buildings' instead of constructing. These inaccuracies do not entirely impede communication, but they restrict the score. To progress, the writer needs to expand their range of vocabulary, improve spelling accuracy, and pay closer attention to natural word forms and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay shows a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some attempt at variety with relative clauses and conditional structures. However, there are frequent errors in grammar, punctuation, and agreement that cause difficulty for the reader. For example, the opening sentence contains a structural flaw ('in metropolitan cities is to construct'), and there are issues with verb forms and tense consistency, such as 'tall building blocks are build' instead of built, and 'these apartments can be construct' instead of constructed. Furthermore, run-on structures and awkward phrasing appear, such as in the third paragraph: 'A person having urgent work he suddenly needs a bus...'. To achieve a higher band, the writer must increase grammatical accuracy by carefully checking subject-verb agreement, passive verb forms, and punctuation, ensuring that complex sentences are constructed correctly.

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

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