Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-12

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)

Providing the sufficient housing for people is a significant problem in big cities due to population growth. Although it is a good way to construct the high rise appartment buildings in the populated cities, I believe that other housing solutions are also necessary.

To commence with, one of the main advantages of high rise appartment buildings is that they can accomodate a larger number of people in a single buidling. This can be attributed to the fact that it uses less space in limited land. For instance, there is often not enough land available to contruct individual house for everyone in densely populated cities. This demontrates that developing the high rise appartment can help reduce the housing shortage however this approach alone may not be sufficient to solve the problem.

This is because the exessive cost is required to contructing the tall buidlings. And most of the people cannot be afford the appartment which they have low income cost. Furthermore, people not happy to live in the appartment . I belive that goverment should develop affordable house in sub urdan area

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You give a relevant, clear overall view: tall apartment buildings can help, but other solutions are also needed. You support the first point by explaining that high-rise buildings house more people on limited land. However, the response only partially develops the task: the alternative of affordable housing in suburban areas is introduced at the end but not explained or supported with an example, and the concern about cost and residents’ preferences is also brief. The response is 69 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop your reasons. To strengthen the answer, explain how suburban housing could meet demand and clarify whether you agree with high-rise construction as the best solution or only as one part of it.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph about the advantages of high-rise buildings, and a final section raising disadvantages and an alternative. Linking phrases such as “To commence with,” “For instance,” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships between ideas. However, progression is uneven: the final section shifts quickly from construction costs to residents’ preferences and then to suburban housing, without explaining how these points connect. Some transitions are also awkward, and the conclusion is not clearly separated or fully developed. Organise the body into distinct paragraphs for the benefits and limitations, then finish with a concise conclusion that restates your position. This would make the progression clearer and reduce the impression of ideas being added abruptly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “population growth,” “high rise,” “densely populated,” and “housing shortage,” so the reader can follow the main subject. However, the range is limited and several spelling and word-choice errors make the writing less precise, such as “appartment,” “buidling,” “exessive,” and “sub urdan.” Some combinations are also unnatural, including “individual house for everyone” and “low income cost.” Aim to learn accurate collocations for housing and affordability, and check spelling carefully. For example, you could refer to “detached houses,” “construction costs,” and “low-income households.” More precise vocabulary would help you explain the economic and social arguments without relying on repeated forms of “build” and “apartment.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession in “Although it is a good way …, I believe…” and a reason introduced by “This is because.” These attempts show some range, and the main ideas are generally understandable. However, errors in sentence construction and grammatical patterns occur often enough to affect clarity. For example, “most of the people cannot be afford” has an incorrect passive form, while “the excessive cost is required to constructing” uses an incorrect verb pattern. “People not happy” also lacks a finite verb, and “it uses less space” has an unclear reference. Practise complete clauses, verb patterns such as “the cost of constructing,” and clear subject–verb references. Accurate control of these basics will make your arguments easier to follow.

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

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