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)

Building tall apartment blocks is one of the best ways to provide adequate homes in urban cities. To some extent, I agree that high-rise apartment blocks are an effective way to address housing shortages in large areas; However, I do not believe that it is the only solution.

High-rise apartment blocks are an essential way to overcome many population density issues. It comes down to limited available land in these cities; Therefore, governments started to build more houses vertically. This leads to more people can accommodate in the same area. Concentrating many people in the same area or a city would encourage governments to invest and upgrade the existing infrastructure of the large cities rather than developing from scratch. Consequently, following this approach could reduce urban sprawl.

On the other hand, excessive reliance on tall apartment blocks can create overcrowded neighborhoods and increase traffic congestion. As a result, basic services or facilities may not manage this high demand; therefore, these services would become limited most times. Transportation may also suffer from the same issue which would lead to traffic shortage. Another viable solution is to build suburban housing. Well-planned suburban developments can provide additional housing while avoid excessive population density, provided that they are connected to reliable public transport.

In conclusion, building tall-apartment blocks is one of the effective ways to provide accommodation in large cities. However, this approach also has certain drawbacks such as traffic congestion and high population density. Consequently, High-rise buildings are highly effective, but not a complete solution.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear: you agree that high-rise housing is effective, but argue it should not be the only response. You address both its advantages—using limited land and helping reduce urban sprawl—and drawbacks, including pressure on services and congestion, then offer suburban housing as an alternative. These are relevant points, but some are less fully explained than others. For example, the claim that concentrating residents encourages infrastructure investment is plausible, yet you do not illustrate how this would work. The discussion of traffic and services also remains general, and “traffic shortage” does not clearly express the intended problem. To strengthen the response, explain the consequences with a specific example and clarify how the alternatives can meet housing demand.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction states your qualified position, the body paragraphs present benefits and limitations, and the conclusion restates your view. Linking expressions such as “On the other hand,” “As a result,” and “In conclusion” make the main relationships easy to follow. However, some connections feel mechanical or are not logically precise. In the first body paragraph, “This leads to more people can accommodate” does not clearly connect the cause to its result, while “therefore” and “Consequently” are used close together in places. The final paragraph also repeats the main points rather than drawing them together. Use clearer sentence-to-sentence links and refer back to specific ideas, so progression feels more natural and less dependent on signposting phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “population density,” “urban sprawl,” “infrastructure,” and “suburban developments.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and the meaning is generally understandable. There are, however, some inaccurate or unnatural word combinations that limit precision. “Urban cities” is redundant, “large areas” is imprecise for cities, and “traffic shortage” does not convey the intended concern; “traffic congestion” would be suitable. “Basic services or facilities may not manage this high demand” also uses an awkward collocation. Aim for more precise, natural phrasing and check whether each noun and verb combination expresses your intended meaning. This would make the argument clearer without requiring more elaborate vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including a conditional clause in “provided that they are connected to reliable public transport” and a contrastive opening with “On the other hand.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “This leads to more people can accommodate” needs a structure such as “This allows more people to be accommodated.” In “while avoid excessive population density,” use “while avoiding.” There are also punctuation and capitalization slips: the semicolon before “However” in the introduction is not correctly joined to the following clause, and “High-rise” is unnecessarily capitalised after “Consequently” in the conclusion. Review clause construction, verb forms after linking words, and sentence punctuation.

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