Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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)

In the modern cities, it is a common practice to stack blocks of apartments on top of one another and create tall skyrises that can house communities, creating a safe and efficient pathway to providing livable spaces to the people. I highly agree with this statement as it is quite possibly the best approach to the living crisis at hand.

The main reason for it being the best solution is the problem we have of limited land. In large cities, the availability of land can become sparse. In order to provide growing population with the roof to live under, cities plan tall skyscrapers that offers a place to call home and place to live.

Apartments can utilise the space that we have most of, that is the sky. As the horizontal space becomes much more compact and packed with the developement of new buildings, the best space to utilize becomes the vertical space. Foe example, to overcome the ever increase in population in the New York city, the mayoral office designed the tall apartment buildings near the park avenue, creating a better living environment for migrants and generating more revenue towards the city. It also tackled the housing crisis during the industrial revolution. Thus it is evident that the best approach is to go vertical and start stacking apartment in high rises.

On the other hand, the dangers of the high rise building cannot be ignored as they pose substantial threat to the surrounding area in times of natural calamities. For example, during the earthquake in Tokyo, Tall buildings that were not constructed following the best safety protocols and practices collapsed to the ground and creating a domino affect of damaging the surrounding area. This event created a massive humanitarian operation to save people trapped under the rubble and bring them to safety. As a consequence, that earthquake was recorded as the deadliest earthquake in the history.

In conclusion, while the tall building can pose a critical threat if not design and engineered properly, The benefits and the providing homes to people in large cities is much greater. Ultimately, If done correctly with all the things into consideration, it can be the best answer to the growing housing crisis.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction (“I highly agree”) and remains consistent in the conclusion. You give a relevant central reason—limited land—and explain why building upwards can accommodate a growing urban population. The New York example also attempts to support this argument, while the earthquake paragraph acknowledges a genuine drawback and your conclusion qualifies your agreement by stressing safe construction. These features address the task well. However, some support is less fully developed: the New York example makes broad claims about migrants and city revenue without explaining how the buildings achieved these outcomes, and the Tokyo example is not clearly connected to whether tall apartments are the best way to provide homes. Develop the evidence and compare the benefits with realistic alternatives to make the argument more fully convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, the body paragraphs present a main benefit and a counterpoint, and the conclusion returns to your position. Linking phrases such as “On the other hand,” “For example,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the broad progression. This is a coherent arrangement, though some connections are mechanical or unclear. The earthquake account, for instance, moves from building collapse to the claim that it was the deadliest earthquake without explaining the relationship or identifying the event. The first body paragraph also repeats the idea of using vertical space in several sentences. Grouping the land-scarcity explanation and its example more tightly, and making each paragraph’s central point explicit, would create smoother progression and clearer cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “limited land,” “housing crisis,” “natural calamities,” and “safety protocols,” and you attempt more ambitious expressions such as “humanitarian operation.” These choices make the subject clear and show some flexibility. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, including “availability of land can become sparse,” “the sky” for vertical building space, and “domino affect” (the intended noun is “effect”). There are also spelling errors such as “developement” and “Foe.” Some phrases, including “roof to live under” and “place to call home and place to live,” are repetitive or imprecise. Choose more natural collocations and proofread spelling to improve precision while retaining your range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional in “if not design and engineered properly” and a concession in “while the tall building can pose a critical threat.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “growing population” needs an article or plural form, “skyscrapers that offers” has subject–verb disagreement, and “if not design and engineered” needs a consistent passive form (“designed and engineered”). The sentence ending “collapsed to the ground and creating” also mixes verb forms. Article and number choices are sometimes inconsistent, as in “the tall building” and “apartment in high rises.” Review agreement, articles, plurals, and parallel verb forms; these corrections would make your varied sentences more controlled.

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