Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-08

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)

The rapid growth of urban population has created serious shortage of housing in large cities. Some people beleive that this problem can be sorted out by developing tall block apartments, while other argue that alternative approaches can leads to solution. I strongly agree that high rose buildings are effective way of providing housing, although there should be aalternative solutions.

One major advantage of building tall apartments is they make efficient use of urban land. In large cities land is very expensive and it need revenue to make houses on it, so building high apartments can accomodate hundreds of families on small piece of land. This allows more people to live close to the city centres, where they can easily avail al services related to jobs, education and health care sector. For example cities such as Hong Kong has build up large buildings to accomodate more people in the same city despite havcind small space.

Another advantage of high density housing can reduce urban sprawl. If cities continues expanding outwards residency

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is stated clearly: “I strongly agree” that tall buildings are effective, while acknowledging that alternatives may also be needed. The points about using expensive urban land efficiently and limiting outward expansion are relevant, and the Hong Kong example begins to support your argument. However, the response addresses the task only partially: the second point stops mid-sentence (“If cities continues expanding outwards residency”), and there is no developed discussion of alternatives or a concluding summary. The response is also 80 words below the required minimum, which leaves too little space to explain and support your ideas. Develop each reason with a clear explanation and example, then finish with a conclusion that restates your position.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction is followed by separate paragraphs presenting advantages, and phrases such as “One major advantage” and “Another advantage” help signal the sequence. The first body paragraph also moves from a general claim to an explanation and an example. However, the overall progression is incomplete because the final paragraph ends abruptly, so the second idea is not connected to a result or supporting detail. Some links within sentences are also unclear, particularly “it need revenue to make houses on it,” which makes the relationship between land cost and apartment construction difficult to follow. Complete the paragraph, use clear cause-and-effect links, and add a conclusion to give the essay a finished progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “urban population,” “housing,” “urban land,” “city centres,” and “urban sprawl,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “high density housing.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, for example “beleive,” “high rose buildings,” “aalternative,” and “havcind.” Some combinations are also unnatural, including “sorted out” for a formal essay and “avail al services.” These errors do not prevent the main argument from being understood, but they make the writing less controlled. Check spelling carefully and learn common collocations for housing and urban planning, such as “high-rise apartment buildings” and “access services.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast in the introduction (“although there should be…”) and a relative clause describing city centres. However, errors in agreement, articles, and verb forms occur regularly. For example, “other argue” should be “others argue,” “can leads” should be “can lead,” and “cities such as Hong Kong has build” needs a plural subject with an appropriate verb form. The sentence “Another advantage of high density housing can reduce urban sprawl” also lacks a clear grammatical structure. These problems sometimes make the intended relationships harder to follow. Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, then review articles and agreement before submitting.

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.