Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-22

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 7.0)

Although building multi-storied housing apartments in large cities can provide more people with living spaces, I believe that it is not the best solution as it creates an excessive burden on the city's infrastructure and hampers mental wellbeing.

It is true that tall apartments utilise space and give more people access to city-based services. Large cities rarely have enough space for housing projects as they have to include offices, schools, banks, shops and other public services. Creating towers in residential areas allow more people to live closer to the heart of the city, reducing time and effort needed to access these. In a bustling city like Dhaka, it is quite common to see 10-to-14 storied towers with multiple flats on each floor, effectively increasing the amount of people living in a certain area and facilitating city-based services.

However, this increase also creates an additional problem for the city infrastructure to support such a huge population. Tall buildings with multiple apartments can house a great deal of families, but does not give them access to sufficient amount of parks or gardens. The amount of open fields or greenery available is much less in proportion to the population, restricting them to confined spaces. This creates an adverse effect on the mental wellbeing of people, especially the upbringing of children who do not have the required space for outdoor activities. In Dhaka, there are very few parks or fields for kids to play in, and most are in dire state due to overuse. Thus, they tend to stay at home, glued to their mobile screens and lack the physical development needed at their age.

Therefore, even if apartment blocks with skyscapers allow more people to live in the city, I disagree that it is the best method to tackle the housing issue, as it creates a bigger problem than the one it solves. A better approach would be to extend the city boundaries and create well-developed sub-urban housing projects that have improved communication with the city center. This would allow the necessary balance between buildings and natural space, while also providing the benefits of city life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear throughout: you acknowledge that tall apartments increase housing capacity, but argue they are not the best solution because of pressure on infrastructure and reduced access to green space. The Dhaka examples help make the argument concrete, and your proposed alternative—well-connected suburban housing—directly answers the question. The main limitation is that the infrastructure concern is introduced but not fully explained: the discussion focuses mostly on parks and children’s wellbeing, rather than showing other ways a larger population strains city services. Some claims, such as the effect on children’s development, would also benefit from more precise support. Developing these points more evenly would make the response more fully convincing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear progression from the benefits of apartment towers, to their drawbacks, and finally to your alternative. Paragraphing is effective, and linking expressions such as “However” and “Therefore” make the argument easy to follow. You also use references such as “these” and “This” to connect ideas. At times, though, the links between claims could be more explicit: the first drawback paragraph moves from infrastructure pressure to parks, then to children’s screen use, without fully explaining how each point follows from the previous one. The conclusion is relevant but largely repeats the position. More deliberate transitions within paragraphs and a slightly more developed final implication would make the cohesion more flexible and less reliant on obvious signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of topic vocabulary, including “residential areas,” “city-based services,” “confined spaces,” and “mental wellbeing,” and the meaning remains clear throughout. There is also some variety in how you describe the issue, rather than relying only on “housing.” However, several collocations or word forms are not fully natural, such as “living spaces,” “amount of people,” and “dire state” in this context. “Skyscapers” is also misspelled, and “sub-urban” is usually written as one word. These slips do not prevent understanding, but they limit the precision and naturalness of the vocabulary. Aim for accurate, conventional combinations as well as a broad range of words.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You attempt a useful mix of complex and simple structures, including subordinate clauses with “as,” “while,” and “who,” and most sentences communicate their meaning clearly. Some sentence patterns are controlled well, such as “Although building… can provide…, I believe…”. There are, however, recurring agreement and article errors: “Creating towers… allow” should be “allows,” “Tall buildings… can house…, but does not give” should be “do not give,” and “access to sufficient amount” needs an article or plural form. The sentence beginning “The amount of open fields…” also has an awkward grammatical construction. These errors are noticeable but generally do not obstruct the argument. More careful checking of subject–verb agreement and noun phrases would improve accuracy.

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