Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-07

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)

Nowadays, people are moving to urban places from rural places. It is mainly due to the avantages one can attain living in a city. There day-to-day life is becoming more easier in a city. This number is rocketed day by day. Therefore, the best way to provide them shelter is to construct tall buildings in urban areas. I partly disagree with the idea because of its drawbacks.

Firstly, tall buildings may save the areas to plant trees in cities. Many people are living in cities. Sometimes, it is not possible to occupy the large population with proper shelter. They are deforesting a large area to make their houses to live. If tall buildings are made, it will contain a large number of people than a one storyed building. This can make opportunity to construct park or garden in a unoccupied area.

Secondly, the population is so huge that, it is the only option. The number of people who left rural areas has reached ten times in last two decade. The main reason behind this would be the opportunites surrounding urbanization. Another big reason is educational system in cities. So, literate people are moving to cities. The extra number of people require more shelter.

However, I partly disagree with the idea. It is mainly because many developers use low quality material during the building construction. These types of buildings can not withstand natural calamities like earth quake. We have already seen the rana plaza destruction due to the low standard construction. Then, natural disasters have increased in asia, specially earth quake. People can not leave tall buildings during the quake. We have also seen the example of building becoming dust in a few seconds in Singapore, Japan, etc as a result of earth quake.

Even though, it should not be the best way, it is the only way.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the housing question and give a position, but it is not fully consistent: the opening says you “partly disagree,” while the conclusion calls tall buildings “the only way.” Your points about accommodating more residents and preserving space for parks are relevant, and the construction-safety concern gives a reason against relying on high-rise housing. However, the first two body paragraphs mainly explain why cities need more homes, rather than showing why tall apartment blocks are the best solution. Some support is also unclear or overgeneralised, such as the claim that rural-to-urban migration has increased “ten times” and the examples of earthquake damage. State your degree of agreement clearly and develop both sides with specific, accurate explanations and examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an introduction, separate body paragraphs and a conclusion, so the reader can identify its main sections. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly” and “However” help signal the intended structure. Nevertheless, progression is limited because the second paragraph repeats the point that urban populations need more shelter without clearly advancing the argument about tall blocks. The shift from benefits to safety is abrupt, and the final sentence does not resolve the conflict between “partly disagree” and “the only way.” Some links are also awkward or unclear, including “Even though, it should not be the best way.” Organise the body around distinct reasons for and against the proposal, use references that clearly identify what “it” means, and make the conclusion follow from the position established in the introduction.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “urbanization,” “population,” “shelter,” “construction” and “natural calamities,” which helps communicate the subject. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “save the areas to plant trees” does not clearly express preserving land, and “This number is rocketed” is not a natural way to describe a rising population. There are also noticeable spelling errors, such as “avantages,” “opportunites” and “earth quake.” Build a more precise set of housing and urban-planning terms, check spelling, and learn common word partnerships so your ideas are expressed more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences, including conditional forms such as “If tall buildings are made, it will contain…” and a relative clause in “people who left rural areas.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence construction, agreement, articles and verb forms. Examples include “There day-to-day life,” “more easier,” “it will contain a large number of people,” and “in last two decade.” Some sentences are also difficult to interpret, particularly “Sometimes, it is not possible to occupy the large population with proper shelter.” Practise building accurate complex sentences and check that subjects and verbs agree, articles and plurals are appropriate, and each sentence expresses a complete, clear idea.

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.