Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-17

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)

The population of the world is increasing rapidly, and the best method to provide sufficient homes in large cities is to build tall apartment blocks. I completely agree with this statement, as building tall apartments utilizes much less space and makes room for many homes, instead of buildings that are wider and take up more space.

Firstly, large cities are becoming more and more crowded day by day. It is becoming very difficult to meet the housing requirements of every individual due to a lack of space. Similarly, the factories and industrial works are also expanding along with the population in big cities. To overcome all these problems, the best method is to build tall apartments instead of individual houses, which occupy much more space. Moreover, when the apartments are built much taller as compared to their width, they occupy much less space and can create living space for more people than we normally expect. For instance, Karachi is a very populated city among all the cities of Pakistan, as people from nearby small cities and villages also come to this city to make a living. So we can see many tall apartments in Karachi, which occupy less area but can hold many people, as the buildings have many floors. Secondly, when we build tall apartments, the cost of any individual living in a room also decreases, consequently providing home to many more individuals. In conclusion, while building tall apartments may make the building congested, it does provide more homes to tackle the growing population and to provide space for many individuals to live in small spaces.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction: you completely agree because high-rise apartments use less land and accommodate more residents. You address the prompt and give a relevant example, explaining how people move to Karachi and how multi-storey buildings can house many of them. However, some points are less fully developed than others. The claim that individual housing costs decrease is introduced briefly but not explained, and the conclusion mainly repeats the central argument rather than adding a developed final insight. To strengthen the response, explain the cost point with a clear cause-and-effect link and consider acknowledging a limitation of high-rise housing before showing why your position still holds.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure, moving from your position to supporting reasons, an example, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Moreover,” “For instance,” and “Secondly” help signal the stages of the argument. However, the body is presented as one long paragraph, so the separate reasons and Karachi example are not visually organised into distinct stages. Some linking also feels mechanical, and the connection between the discussion of industrial expansion and the housing solution could be made more explicit. Use separate paragraphs for the main reasons and conclusion, and connect each example directly to the point it supports. This would make the progression easier to follow and reduce reliance on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the argument, including “housing requirements,” “industrial works,” “occupy,” and “growing population.” The meaning is generally clear, but several expressions are repetitive or imprecise, which limits the range and naturalness of the wording. For example, “provide home to many more individuals” and “create living space for more people” repeat similar ideas, while “industrial works” is not a natural collocation in this context. “Congested” is also used broadly to describe a building, where a more precise term could clarify the concern. Aim to vary repeated words such as “people,” “space,” and “build,” and choose collocations that sound natural in formal discussion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a reason clause (“as building tall apartments utilizes much less space”) and a relative clause (“which occupy much more space”). Most sentences communicate the intended meaning, but some grammatical choices are awkward or inaccurate. In “the cost of any individual living in a room also decreases,” the structure does not clearly express the intended relationship between apartment construction and housing costs. The long sentence beginning “For instance, Karachi…” also joins several ideas in a way that makes the sentence difficult to manage. Break longer sentences into clearer units and check that subjects and comparisons are expressed precisely. More consistently controlled complex sentences would improve accuracy.

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