Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-16
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)
In recant decades, there is a significant increase has been observed in numbers of tall apartments in city areas. Even in some rural areas a substantial proportion of apartment blocks has been seen. I'm partially agree with this fact that one of the main reason of this increase is providing enough homes in large cities.
As the country's population is increasing day by day, there is an urgent housing crisis for this growing population. Some experts are believing by building tall apartments with many blocks will help to eradicate the accommodation problem. Many civil engineers are giving the planning and design of this tall apartments. Although according to their designs with many blocks in these apartments give enough space to set these huge population in tiny rooms. So the housing crisis has been lessen in these recent years. Especially in urban cities, people can easily get rooms for their accommodation. Moreover the people who migrate rural to urban has been facing no issues of home crisis. They can easily get shifted in urban areas which is one of the reason of centralization of a particular city.
Though there are many alternative ways has been found to reduce the problem of providing enough homes to this growing citizens. People can transform vacant or unused offices and retail spaces into residential buildings. Also they can build backyard cottages or convert garages to affordable small units of home. By proper using of vacant and useless places in cities can change the structure of the town.
This can be the best way to build large apartments to mitigate housing crisis but it is not a sustainable way. This can have adverse effects on environment pollution. These huge numbers of tall apartments is also hazardous for earthquake. In earthquake, for these large apartments many people may lose their lives and the effects will not be managable.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You take a partly supportive position, saying tall apartments can help address housing shortages but are not sustainable as the only solution. You give relevant reasons, including population growth, converting unused offices, and earthquake and environmental risks. However, the position is not fully clear: the opening says you “partially agree,” while the conclusion calls tall apartments “the best way” before rejecting them as unsustainable. The alternatives are listed rather than compared with high-rise construction, and the risks are asserted without examples or explanation of how they affect whether this is the best approach. State your position consistently and develop each main reason with a specific example or explanation.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting apartment construction, a paragraph presenting alternatives, and a concluding paragraph. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Though,” and “This can be” help signal relationships between ideas. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow. For example, the discussion moves from engineers’ designs to “tiny rooms,” then to migration and centralisation without clearly explaining the connections. “Though” also introduces alternatives in a way that does not form a complete contrast with the preceding point. Use clearer topic sentences, organise each paragraph around one main idea, and make references such as “this” explicit so readers can follow the argument more easily.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “housing crisis,” “vacant or unused offices,” “residential buildings,” and “adverse effects.” These choices show an attempt to discuss urban housing beyond basic terms. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “set these huge population in tiny rooms,” “centralization of a particular city,” and “hazardous for earthquake.” Spelling errors such as “recant” and “managable” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more natural phrases and check spelling carefully; for example, describe how high-rise buildings “accommodate a large population” and may be “vulnerable to earthquake damage.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a concession beginning “Although” and a conditional-style point about earthquakes. However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to interpret. Examples include “there is a significant increase has been observed,” “I'm partially agree,” and “the housing crisis has been lessen.” Agreement and sentence construction also cause problems in “These huge numbers of tall apartments is also hazardous.” Practise forming one clear main clause, then adding subordinate clauses accurately. Review subject–verb agreement, verb forms, and articles, and check that introductory words such as “Although” are followed by a complete, correctly connected clause.
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