Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-20

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)

Yes, I agree with the statement that the best way to provide enough homes in large cities is to build tall apartments blocks because of the less maintainence, less expensive and the most attractive reason is that a large city will face less traffic and better infrastructure.

People coming from rural areas to find better living have difficulties renting a house or a portion because of the rental cost. An apartment can help those families settle, as they are not as expensive as renting a house. Moreover, in many apartments, there is a monthly maintainence cost for daily life facilites, for instance, water supply, electricity and gas as many families does not want to pay separately.

Another huge advantage is safety, a husband goes to his job, not having a tension about his wife, alone at a apartment. Furthermore, children can left be alone too as there are security guards present at the building. Some apartments also have a park where children gets to meet their new friends and play in their free time. If a family prefers an expensive apartment, they get major facilites, such as gym, swimming pool, suana, a tennis court, and so on.

To conclude, I think its best to build a tall apartment blocks as it helps poor families and less worry of essential facilites. In my city, apartments can provide better safety, this concern is growing among familes and children gets to play with new friends and roam freely without parents getting too concerned.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you agree that tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide homes, and you give relevant reasons, including affordability, shared facilities and safety. The examples about security guards, children’s play areas and amenities help make the response specific. However, the discussion does not fully establish why high-rise blocks are the best solution compared with alternatives, and some claims—such as apartments reducing traffic or improving infrastructure—are introduced but not explained. The conclusion repeats the main points rather than extending them. The response is 236 words, 14 words below the 250-word minimum; the 14 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Develop the comparison and explain how high-density housing addresses the city’s housing shortage to cover the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. Ideas are grouped by topic, with affordability and facilities discussed before safety and recreation. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Furthermore” and “To conclude” help signal movement between points. However, progression is not always clear: the introduction mentions reduced traffic and better infrastructure, but the body paragraphs do not return to these claims. Some sentences also combine several points without showing their relationship, particularly the opening sentence of the first body paragraph. The conclusion repeats earlier benefits rather than drawing them together. Use clearer topic sentences, connect each example directly to its paragraph’s main claim, and ensure every point introduced is developed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “rental cost,” “security guards,” “monthly maintenance cost” and “swimming pool.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main ideas, but the range is limited and some wording is imprecise or repetitive. “Facilities” appears several times, while “less expensive” and “better safety” are broad expressions that could be made more exact. There are also noticeable spelling and word-choice problems, such as “maintainence,” “facilites,” “suana” and “a portion” for a rented part of a house. These errors do not prevent understanding, but they reduce clarity and naturalness. Practise accurate spelling and use more precise terms for housing costs, shared amenities and urban benefits.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, using clauses with “because,” “as” and “where,” and the overall meaning is usually understandable. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence construction, agreement, articles and verb forms. For example, “many families does not want” should use a plural verb, while “children can left be alone” has an incorrect verb pattern. “A husband goes to his job, not having a tension” is also awkwardly constructed, and “children gets to meet” has a subject–verb agreement error. Articles and plurals are inconsistent in phrases such as “at a apartment” and “a tall apartment blocks.” Review these patterns and build complex sentences carefully, checking each clause for a clear subject and correctly formed verb.

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

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