Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The optimal way for providing enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks. I do not agree with the statement with reasons explored in this task.

Tall apartment blocks are not a solution to the housing crisis in itself. Increasing the number of houses of course can mitigate the situation, however it does not fix the core issues. An example is the vacant houses situation. Businessmen buy houses in droves as a way to invest in the speculative economy but the houses remain vacant, as the purpose is just for investing. Instead of building more tall apartment blocks, the state should prevent purchases of existing housing done only for the purpose of investment. In this way it can be ensured that with proper government oversight, the current set of available housing can be utilized to the fullest. Furthermore the population increase that affects the number of houses available is often due to a scarcity of resources and job opportunities elsewhere. This is evident as a component of population growth in cities are from youth or families from other regions of the country. States should prioritize development of rural regions and smaller cities, whose population are a benefactor to the rise of population which demands further housing. A controlled population growth in turn makes it easier to plan on housing crisis solutions without relying on building just tall apartment blocks.

Proper urban planning does not require building tall structures for housing. Tall apartment blocks are more often than not, a result of bad urban organisation which cannot cope with the increasing population. This case enforces the need to cram as many people as possible, while in the same time building structures that can make the situation worse. For example, if the population increase is at a point where further tall buildings must be made for housing, it points to the fact that there is not enough space available. The result is that since that area is in development even more similar buildings will be done and due to a lack of space, this worsens liveability regarding pollution, traffic and social spaces. The solution instead is to have cities that have interconnected districts where commuting is easy and businesses and government institutions are spaced evenly across each district. Doing this can space the population further, which makes it easier to build additional houses in the periphery of each district. This solution is dependent on good urban planning however it removes the need of tall buildings.

I disagree with the notion that a solution of housing is only dependent on building tall apartment blocks. Housing problem can be fixed by introducing state policies on development and prevention of monopolies that some individuals have on purchases of homes. Urban planning in itself can also remove the need of building large structures as it makes it easier to build regular buildings that have a better effect on living conditions in a city.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear from the introduction (“I do not agree”) and remains consistent in the conclusion. You address the proposed solution directly and support your disagreement with relevant alternatives: using existing vacant homes, developing smaller cities and rural areas, and improving urban planning. The examples and explanations—such as investment purchases leaving homes empty and congestion worsening when districts are overcrowded—extend the main ideas. This meets the task well. To strengthen the response further, develop some claims with more precise support: for instance, explain how policies could discourage speculative purchases, and clarify how distributing services across districts would reduce pressure on housing. A few statements, such as attributing city growth to limited opportunities elsewhere, are broad and would benefit from qualification or a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting distinct reasons, and a conclusion that restates your position. Ideas generally progress logically within each paragraph, and linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “For example,” and “The solution instead” help show relationships. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or unclear. The repeated use of “tall apartment blocks” and “housing” makes the argument feel less varied, while “This case” and “Doing this” do not always identify their references precisely. Some long sentences also contain several connected claims, making the progression harder to follow. Use clearer topic sentences, vary referencing, and divide complex explanations into shorter units to make the links between cause, consequence, and solution more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “speculative economy,” “government oversight,” “urban planning,” “liveability,” and “interconnected districts.” These choices help express ideas about housing and city design, and the meaning is generally clear. There is also some attempt at less common language, but several collocations or word choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “houses in droves,” “a benefactor to the rise of population,” “a solution of housing,” and “structures … will be done.” These slips limit precision and fluency, even though they do not prevent understanding. Aim for more natural combinations and check whether a word fits its intended meaning; for example, distinguish between a cause, contributor, and beneficiary when describing population growth.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses and conditional structures, as in “if the population increase is at a point where further tall buildings must be made.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions recur. For example, “the population increase … are” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “the population … whose population are a benefactor” contains agreement and clause-structure difficulties. In “while in the same time building structures,” the sentence construction is incomplete or awkward, and several long sentences would benefit from clearer punctuation and clause boundaries. Review agreement with singular subjects, relative-clause structure, and sentence boundaries. More consistently controlled complex sentences would improve accuracy without reducing the range you already attempt.

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