Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Finding best solution to provide enough housing iin croweded modern cities is major challenge today. This shift is mainly driven by, vertical builings save limited city space and better public infrastructure to avoid overcrowding. I belive it holds more drawbacks than benefits .

The primary reason for this shift is the major cities , land is extermily expensive as compare to urban areas , so building upward allows thousands of people to live on a single small plot of ground. Furthermore, built tall aprtmants blocks can provide better infrastructure to avoid cities crowed , whilst they can build more faclities such as schools, hospitals, better trasnportsion system. As a result , vertical bulings can reduced traffic and pollution .

I regard this trend as positive, relying only on tall builinds can create serious safety and living problems. hundreds of families into one tower puts massive pressure on local infrastructure , leading to crowded roads and water shortage if the area is not managing well.Lastly, living high above the ground without a private yard can make people isolated, which negatively impacts their mental well- being.

In conclusion, tall apartment builing are absolutly essential for solving the housing crisis in big cities. However, governments should not rely on rhem completely. To create health cities

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the topic and give reasons both for building upwards and against relying on towers alone. The points about expensive land, shared facilities, pressure on infrastructure, and isolation are relevant. However, your position is not consistently clear: the introduction says tall buildings have “more drawbacks than benefits,” while the conclusion calls them “absolutely essential.” The response also ends with the incomplete phrase “To create health cities,” so the final recommendation is not fully expressed. The ideas remain brief and general, with no specific example or explanation showing how the proposed benefits or risks would work in practice. The response is 38 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop and support your argument. State a consistent degree of agreement and extend each main point with an example or explanation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation: you use an introduction, separate paragraphs for supporting and opposing points, and a conclusion. Connectors such as “Furthermore,” “As a result,” and “However” help signal relationships between ideas. Nevertheless, the overall progression is not clear because the opening claims the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but the conclusion presents tall blocks as essential. Some links are also awkward or unclear, such as “This shift is mainly driven by” followed by a sentence that does not complete the thought, and “whilst” does not clearly connect the facilities to the preceding point. The final sentence is unfinished, weakening the ending. Plan a consistent argument first, then use each paragraph to develop one main idea in a clear sequence, with references that make the links between claims explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt topic-related vocabulary, including “vertical,” “infrastructure,” “overcrowding,” “isolated,” and “mental well-being,” and these choices show an effort to discuss urban housing beyond very basic terms. However, the range is limited and frequent spelling and word-choice errors make parts of the response difficult to read, for example “croweded,” “builings,” “extermily,” “apr tmants,” and “trasnportsion.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “avoid cities crowed” and “create health cities.” Aim to use accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully. Useful alternatives include “high-rise apartment blocks,” “limited urban land,” “strain on local services,” and “urban housing shortage.” These would make your points more precise while keeping the vocabulary appropriate to the task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer sentence forms, including a reason clause beginning “so building upward allows…” and a conditional idea about water shortages. However, the range is limited, and attempts at complex sentences are often faulty. For example, “The primary reason for this shift is the major cities” is not a complete, well-formed explanation, while “tall apartment builing are” has a subject–verb agreement error. Other problems include missing or incorrect articles and plurals, as in “build more faclities” and “hundreds of families into one tower puts,” as well as the incomplete final sentence. These errors sometimes make the intended meaning harder to follow. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then add subordinate clauses, checking agreement, articles, and sentence completeness.

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