Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-25

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 outstanding method to give better residencies in crowded cities is to construct heighted apartment blocks.

I am fully aligned with this statement. If we look around the globe, we'll see in the major cities, the ratio of individuals is increasing day by day. People are moving from the small towns to the main cities, to get the jobs or to run their own businesses. Consequently, it's very challenging for the government to maintain the infrastructure in those areas.

We can witness the same thing in London, Mumbai, Karachi, Lahore and other major cities in the world. So, according to my experience, this is a great strategy to build building blocks and provide enough facilities to the public so that they can easily live there.

Let's take an example, Everyone knows that Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan and a well-known city in the world. Once Karachi was the business hub for the traders and that's why it was one of the most busiest city. For that reason, we'll see huge buildings everywhere. On the other side, Lahore is the second largest city in Pakistan. The citizens prefer to live in personal houses rather than apartments. Nevertheless, as the population is increasing on daily basis and its very difficult to have seperate homes for everyone. Ultimately, people are willing to live in apartments.

So in conclusion, I think the great way to manage the population in populated states, is to build well-maintained apartments so that public can live there instead of having personal homes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you fully support building tall apartment blocks, and you give relevant context about urban population growth and examples from Karachi and Lahore. However, the response only partly develops the central claim about whether tall blocks are the best way to provide enough homes. The Karachi example says that many large buildings exist, but does not explain how they increase housing supply or why this approach is preferable to alternatives. The Lahore comparison is more relevant, yet the point about residents’ preferences and the difficulty of providing separate houses needs fuller explanation. To strengthen the response, develop two clear reasons, such as efficient land use and access to services, and connect each example directly to your argument.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion that restates your view. Ideas generally move from population growth to city examples and then to your recommendation. However, progression within the body is sometimes unclear: the discussion of Karachi’s former role as a business hub does not clearly lead to the claim that tall blocks provide enough homes. Some linking phrases, including “So” and “For that reason,” are used mechanically or do not show the precise relationship between ideas. The conclusion also repeats the main position without drawing together the reasons. Use clearer topic sentences and make each example’s connection to housing supply explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “infrastructure,” “population,” “businesses,” and “well-maintained,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at less common expressions, but several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “better residencies,” “heighted apartment blocks,” and “build building blocks.” These make parts of the argument less precise. Some phrases are also imprecise for the task: “manage the population” suggests controlling people rather than meeting housing demand. Spelling errors such as “seperate” further reduce accuracy. Aim for natural collocations and precise housing terms, for example “provide adequate housing,” “high-rise apartment blocks,” and “residential buildings.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “Consequently,” “so that,” and “as.” The main ideas are usually understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “the ratio of individuals is increasing” has an awkward subject construction, while “one of the most busiest city” has an incorrect superlative form and agreement. In “as the population is increasing on daily basis and its very difficult,” the sentence is incomplete and needs a main clause; “it’s” also requires an apostrophe when meaning “it is.” There are also inconsistent capitalisation and punctuation choices, such as “Everyone” after a comma. Practise accurate sentence boundaries, articles, agreement, and punctuation while retaining your complex structures.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.