Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Nowadays, numerous individuals argue that build tall apartment blocks is the best way to provide enough homes in large cities. I strongly agree with this view because tall buildings have excessive number of flates in a small piece of land and thousands of families live in a single building.

One view is that, build tall apartment blocks is most beneficial for larger cities because it prevent from expand of cities and provide a large number of houses in a single tall building. Build tall building is most beneficial for workers because most of the apartment blocks build close to to factories, and rural areas and this development become more convenient for workers. Another significant aspect of this is that, tall aparment community also have large number of facilities in one society such as, parks, schools, gym, that facilitate to huge community in only one place.

Another major factor is that, in apartment blocks lives individuals from different culture and environment, they may have chance to become strong realtionships with neighbors and chlidren also become friends with society people. For instance, when all community children play together in one park they become best friends. As a result, individuals develop stronger relations with community.

In conclusion, build tall apartment blocks is best way to provide homes to a large number of families in one piece of land. I strongly agree with this view because tall buildings have excessive number of flates in a small piece of land and thousands of families live in a single building.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you strongly agree that tall apartment blocks can provide homes efficiently, and you give relevant reasons, including using less land, locating housing near workplaces, and providing shared facilities. The example of children playing together also supports your point about community. However, the response is under the required length: it contains 244 words, six words short of the 250-word minimum, with the copied prompt words excluded. More importantly, several points remain general or are not fully explained—for example, the claim that blocks are built near factories and rural areas is unclear, and the social benefits do not directly establish that this is the best way to provide enough homes. Develop the housing argument with a specific example or comparison with alternatives.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present reasons, and a conclusion restates your position. Sequencing phrases such as “Another significant aspect” and “For instance” help signal the direction of the discussion. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow. The first body paragraph moves from preventing city expansion to workers’ convenience and then to community facilities without clearly linking these points. Connect each reason explicitly to the central question of housing supply, and use clearer topic sentences to guide the reader. Some linking language is repetitive or awkward, particularly repeated forms of “Another,” and the conclusion largely repeats the introduction rather than drawing the main reasons together.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “apartment blocks,” “large number of houses,” “facilities,” and “community,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, word-form, and spelling errors make the writing less precise. Examples include “excessive number of flates,” “prevent from expand,” “strong realtionships,” and “chlidren.” Some expressions, such as “society people” and “one society,” are unclear in this context. Aim for accurate housing and urban-planning vocabulary, and check spelling carefully. More precise phrases such as “high-density housing” and “make efficient use of land” would help express your argument clearly without relying on repeated general terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including a reason clause beginning “because” and a conditional example beginning “when.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in basic sentence patterns as well as in longer attempts. For example, “argue that build tall apartment blocks is” needs a correctly formed subject and verb, while “it prevent” has a subject–verb agreement error. The construction “in apartment blocks lives individuals” also has faulty word order, and several sentences use commas incorrectly around introductory phrases. Practise building accurate clauses with gerunds or infinitives, checking agreement and articles, and separating complete ideas with appropriate punctuation. Clearer sentence control will make your reasons easier to follow.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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