Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-26

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 6.5)

In contemporary society, providing enough housing for people in large cities has become a major challenge. Some people support that constructing tall apartment blocks is the best solution to this problem. However,I strongly disagree with this notion, and this essay will explain the rationable reasons behind my stance.

One significant reason for my opinion is that high rise buildings have disadvantages. They can be expensive to construct and maintain. However, lifts may become overcrowded, and people may face difficulties during power cuts. In addition, too many tall buildings can put pressure on water and electricity supplies. For example, in cities like mumbai, constructing and maintaining high-rise apartments can be expensive, making it difficult for low-income families to afford these homes.This clearly demonstrates that construction and maintaince cost are high.

Another important factor is that tall buildings can effect people's quality of life. They can reduce privacy and access to open spaces. Overcrowding can increase pressure on roads, schools and hospitals it leads to traffic congestion.

Moreover, low-rise housing and careful urban planning can preserve parks and playgrounds. However, green spaces and playgrounds are important for children's health. For instance,residental communities designed with gardens, playgrounds and walking paths can provide families with a healthier living environment.

In conclusion, although building tall apartment blocks can provide housing for many people, I disagree that it is the best solution. I believe that developing affordable houses in suburban areas and renovating unused buildings are better alternatives to provide comfortable homes and improve people's quality of life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you disagree that tall apartment blocks are the best solution. You give relevant reasons, including construction and maintenance costs, pressure on utilities, and effects on privacy and open space, and you offer alternatives such as suburban housing and renovating unused buildings. These points address the task, with examples such as Mumbai and planned residential communities. However, some ideas are asserted rather than fully explained. For instance, the link between high-rise buildings and overcrowded lifts or difficulties during power cuts could be developed with a clearer explanation of how these issues affect whether they are the best way to provide homes. The alternatives in the conclusion could also be supported in the body. More balanced development would make the argument more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs presenting reasons, and a conclusion that restates your position. The ideas generally progress from practical disadvantages to quality-of-life concerns, and examples are placed in relevant paragraphs. You also use linking expressions such as “In addition,” “Moreover,” and “For instance.” At times, however, connections are mechanical or unclear. “However” does not express a clear contrast in “However, lifts may become overcrowded,” and the sentence about overcrowding, roads, schools and hospitals runs into “it leads to traffic congestion” without a clear grammatical or logical link. Improve cohesion by making relationships between claims explicit and varying how you connect supporting explanations, rather than relying mainly on familiar transition phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “high-rise buildings,” “water and electricity supplies,” “traffic congestion,” “urban planning,” and “green spaces.” These choices make the subject and your main points clear, and you attempt more specific language when describing residential communities. Some word-choice, collocation and spelling errors limit precision, though: “rationable reasons” is not a natural expression, “effect people’s quality of life” uses the wrong word, and “construction and maintaince cost” contains spelling and form problems. “Affordable houses” is understandable but “affordable housing” is more idiomatic in this context. Aim to check spelling carefully and learn common word partnerships so that your vocabulary is not only relevant but consistently natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex forms, including a concession in “although building tall apartment blocks can provide housing for many people” and clauses explaining consequences. Most of the argument remains understandable, but some sentence-boundary and punctuation problems reduce accuracy. For example, “Overcrowding can increase pressure on roads, schools and hospitals it leads to traffic congestion” joins two independent clauses without suitable punctuation or a connector. There are also missing spaces after punctuation and inconsistent comma use, as in “However,I” and “For instance,residental communities.” The sentence patterns are generally straightforward, so try adding controlled complex structures to explain cause and effect, while checking clause boundaries, articles and punctuation during revision.

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.