Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-15

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)

Some people believe that the better way to provide sufficient homes to people of urban cities is to construct high-rise buildings. I completely disagree with this view because it demand high cost maintenance and offer insufficient living space for larger households.

To begin with, tall buildings although provide enough space in large cities however their maintenance must be expensive for the low-income members. For instance, there are some local people who usually earned limited salaries from their jobs. As a result, they don't have an enough money to spent on apartment renovation whilst, people will be gone that side which demand less money and provide higher serenity.

Moreover, we have seen that tall buildings consist of several stories and offer a wide range of house block units but that may not suitable for the larger families. For example, mostly families have 5 to 6 members which is quite challenging to live in two small bedrooms. people often feel discomfort, security issue and sometimes their children may not pay full attention to their studies. Basically, cities should relay on alternative mixed housing strategy, rather than relying mainly on tall apartment blocks where, governments could build affordable low-rise housing in suitable areas for that low-income people so they can live peacefully.

In conclusion, although providing enough house units for the cities member would be best opportunity however i strongly disagree with this statement as it also brings a lot of inconvenience related to high expense building servicing and congested space available for huge families.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear from the introduction: you “completely disagree,” and the conclusion maintains that view. You give two relevant reasons—maintenance costs for lower-income residents and limited space for larger households—and add examples, so the response addresses the question. However, the reasons are only partly developed. The cost point would be stronger if you explained which ongoing costs residents face and why these make high-rise housing a poor solution compared with alternatives. The family-space example is relevant, but the claims about children’s studies and security are not clearly connected to apartment design. Develop each point with a specific explanation or example, and make the comparison with low-rise or mixed housing more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting separate reasons, and a conclusion. Linking phrases such as “To begin with,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” help signal this progression. Within sentences, however, some connections are faulty or unclear. For example, “although … however” uses two contrast markers together, while “people will be gone that side” makes the relationship between cost and residents’ choices difficult to follow. The second body paragraph also moves from family size to children’s studies and then to a housing policy proposal without fully explaining the links. Use clearer sentence boundaries and connect each supporting detail directly to its main point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “high-rise buildings,” “low-income,” “maintenance,” “larger families,” and “mixed housing strategy.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes makes the meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “urban cities,” “higher serenity,” “house block units,” and “building servicing.” There are also spelling or word-form issues such as “relay” for “rely.” Aim for precise, natural phrases for housing and costs, and check whether each expression fits its context. Reusing a few accurate terms is more effective than attempting an unusual phrase that obscures your point.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a reason clause with “because” and a concession structure beginning “although.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some ideas harder to understand. For example, “it demand high cost maintenance” has subject–verb agreement and article problems, while “an enough money to spent” has errors in article use and verb form. In “although tall buildings … however,” the contrast structure is not controlled, and punctuation around clauses is often unclear. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a clearly attached supporting clause, then check agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries.

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