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 most effective way to meet the housing needs of large cities is to construct high-rise apartments buildings. In my opinion,I agree with this statement because tall apartment blocks can accomodate many people in limited space.However, other housing solutions are also necessary to meet the growing demand.

On the one hand, because of the apartments it save the space and more families lives on a small area of land.However, it also provide homes for a large urban populations. Because nowadays population growth rapidly and there is not enough land to built the large homes for one family. Apartments are also be affordable because it is cheaper than the individuals homes. For instance, tall apartment in crowded areas allow more people to live close to their workplace because if they lives in their hometown it will takes a lot of time to reach at their workplace.

On the other hand, too many residents can put pressure on lifts, roads and public services the places would be overcrowded.While, there is limited privacy in apartments because they are very small and families may have less room for children to play. People from the urban areas moved to the cities places because of this the population in cities areas increase. For instance, if children want to play the apartment was very small and there is not enough space for their playing, while in large house children have a proper playground where they van easliy play and enjoy the outdoor acitivities which is impossible in tall blocks.

In conclusion, tall apartment blocks are an effective way to increase housing capacity in large cities.However, they should not be only solution. A combinition of high-rise apartments, affordable houses and better urban planning is the best approach.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you agree that high-rise apartments are effective, while arguing they should be combined with other housing and planning measures. You address both the benefits and drawbacks, including efficient land use, affordability, pressure on services, and limited space for children. These are relevant points, but some are not fully explained. For example, the claim that apartments are affordable is supported only by saying they are cheaper than individual homes, without explaining why or giving a specific example. The discussion of overcrowding also shifts between service pressure and children’s play space without clearly showing how these concerns affect your overall position. Develop fewer points with clearer explanation and evidence to strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting contrasting considerations, and a conclusion that restates your position. This gives the reader an overall path through the argument. However, connections between ideas are sometimes mechanical or unclear. For instance, “On the one hand” introduces benefits, but the paragraph moves from land use to population growth, affordability, and commuting without consistently showing how each point follows. In the second body paragraph, “While” begins a fragment-like contrast, and the example about children repeats the point about limited space. Use linking phrases more selectively, make the relationship between each claim and its support explicit, and ensure each paragraph develops a focused central idea.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “high-rise apartments,” “housing capacity,” “public services,” and “urban planning.” There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “limited privacy” and “crowded areas.” However, word choice, collocation, and spelling are inconsistent, which limits precision. Examples include “apartments buildings,” “large urban populations,” and “the cities places”; these sound unnatural or unclear. Spelling errors such as “acitivities,” “easliy,” and “combinition” also reduce accuracy. Build a reliable set of housing-related collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would help distinguish issues such as density, affordability, congestion, and access to amenities.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “because” and “if,” and your overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries occur across the response. For example, “it save the space” and “it also provide homes” need subject–verb agreement, while “more families lives” has an incorrect verb form. The conditional sentence “if they lives … it will takes” also contains errors in both clauses. Several sentences run together, such as the opening of the first body paragraph, because full stops and spaces are missing. Practise accurate sentence patterns first, then use a wider range of complex structures with careful checking of verbs and punctuation.

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