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)

Most cities have been fairly small duing much of human history, with some exceptions. Since the start of the industrial revolution in 18th century England, this has significantly changed.

Since then, growing cities take more and more space, and infrastructure that keeps them alive consumes large amount of our resources needed elsewhere. With the development of new engineering techniques in the 1920s and the 1930s, we have seen first skyscrapers in the US. Since then, the skylines of our big cities have become very different all around the Globe.

But, this change, although significant and helpful in the early stages, has not been able to solve the problem of growing cities. It instead created other problems. Maintainance is certainly one of them, as we can see this issue in many degrading apartment blocks in the countries of the ex-USSR. Also, they lack proper green areas such as parks and public parkings, not to mention the heat they generate on hot days.

All of these things have become daily life issues of the people living in tall apartment blocks. But on the other hand, they do indeed postpone or make the enlargement of cities slower. American suburbs have become the target of criticism in the last decade or so because they, in a sence, force or compel the inhabitants of such suburbs to own or use a car in their daily lives. Some suburban famillies even have multiple cars. That is a large waste of energy and money and many peoples living in tall apartment blocks mostly rely on public transport or metro system for their daily travels.

In my opinion, tall apartment blocks have many setbacks but are a neccessity of a big city life. Otherwise, a lot more resources would be wasted. Many problems of such blocks could be solved with planned architecture and planned enlargement of cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear in the conclusion: tall apartment blocks have drawbacks but are necessary in large cities. You address both sides with relevant points, including maintenance and limited green space on one hand, and reduced urban expansion and greater reliance on public transport on the other. This gives the response a sound basis and some supporting explanation. However, the discussion does not fully establish that tall blocks are the best way to provide enough homes: the opening history of urban growth and skyscrapers takes space without directly comparing housing capacity with alternatives. The points about heat and maintenance are also asserted more than explained. Develop the comparison and add a specific example of how high-rise housing accommodates more residents.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: it moves from urban growth and the history of skyscrapers to their disadvantages, then considers the contrast with suburbs before stating your view. Paragraphing helps distinguish these stages, and linking phrases such as “But on the other hand” make the shift in argument visible. Some connections are less precise, however. “All of these things” refers broadly to several different drawbacks, while “they” in the next paragraph could momentarily refer to either the problems or the apartment blocks. The historical opening also delays the central argument. A more direct introduction and clearer topic sentences would strengthen progression, while more exact referencing would make cohesion feel less dependent on explicit transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range for the topic, including “infrastructure,” “skylines,” “degrading apartment blocks,” “suburbs,” and “public transport.” These choices help communicate the main ideas, and some less common vocabulary is attempted. However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “duing,” “Maintainance,” “sence,” “famillies,” and “neccessity” should be corrected, and “public parkings” is not a natural expression in this context. Phrases such as “consume large amount of our resources” and “daily life issues” are understandable but could be more idiomatic and exact. Aim to check spelling carefully and learn common collocations for urban planning, housing density, and transport.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including the concessive clause “although significant and helpful in the early stages” and the conditional idea “Otherwise, a lot more resources would be wasted.” Most sentences remain understandable, and errors rarely obstruct the argument. Some grammatical inaccuracies persist, particularly with articles, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “in 18th century England” needs an article, and “growing cities take more and more space” does not clearly express the intended relationship between city growth and land use. In “a lot more resources would be wasted,” the conditional link to the preceding claim could be made more explicit. Review article use and ensure each sentence states its subject and relationship clearly; this will help you use complex structures with greater control.

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