Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

Home is an essential and necessary need of anyone's life . There are various methods to provide homes to homeless people.

By building tall apartments in large cities , this stress reduced to certain level . For example in Karachi, Pakistan the apartment system is very common and almost 60% population of Karachi lives in these apartments. But there are major disputes regarding this . In apartment system , different sort of persons live connectively but there are some issues like theft is more common in Karachi as compared to any other cities . People of different thoughts live together, this may have positive or negative effect . There is privacy issues in tall apartments and main reason is that the improper constructed apartments may be at a risk of falling.

In my opinion , the government should introduce housing scheme for homeless families. For example the chief minister of Pakistan Maryam Nawaz launched a Punjab housing scheme . According to this , a home or land is given to people to build their houses and in return they have to pay affordable monthly installment to government. This is the best strategy to provide shelter to everyone.

In apartments , during family gatherings there is no place because apartments size are fixed and not so spacious. On the other hand ,own build houses play supportive role and person with their own house enjoy healthy and peaceful life as shown by researchers. So government of any country should focus on smart housing opportunities rather than building tall apartment blocks .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that tall apartment blocks are not the best solution, and you offer relevant reasons, including privacy, safety, and limited space for family gatherings. The Karachi example and the Punjab housing scheme also help make the discussion concrete. However, the response only partly develops the comparison required by the question: it does not explain in much detail how alternative housing schemes could provide enough homes in large cities, or weigh their advantages against the capacity of apartment blocks. Some claims, such as theft being more common in Karachi, are asserted without support. Develop each main reason with explanation and evidence, and make your degree of agreement explicit in the introduction and conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from the housing issue to apartment-related concerns, then to an alternative and a concluding preference. Linking phrases such as “For example” and “On the other hand” help signal relationships between ideas. However, progression is not always clear: the opening paragraph combines the benefits of apartments, crime, social differences, privacy, and construction safety without a clear sequence. The housing-scheme example would be easier to follow in a separate paragraph, with its connection to the question made explicit. Some links are also mechanical or unclear, particularly “According to this” and “So.” Organise each paragraph around one main point and use clearer references and transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “housing scheme,” “affordable monthly installment,” “privacy,” and “spacious,” which allows you to discuss the issue. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “provide shelter” and “housing opportunities.” However, several word choices and collocations are noticeably inaccurate or unnatural, including “essential and necessary need,” “this stress reduced,” “live connectively,” and “own build houses.” These expressions sometimes make the intended meaning less precise. Aim for natural combinations such as “meet a basic need,” “ease the housing shortage,” “live in close proximity,” and “owner-built homes.” More precise vocabulary for density, affordability, and urban planning would also strengthen the argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional-style explanation of the housing scheme and the contrast introduced by “On the other hand.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but errors occur frequently in sentence construction and grammatical control. For example, “this stress reduced to certain level” is missing an auxiliary and an article, while “there is privacy issues” has a subject–verb agreement error. In “apartments size are fixed,” the possessive and agreement are incorrect, and several sentences have awkward punctuation and spacing around commas. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, plurals, and complete verb forms, then check each sentence for a clear subject and verb. This will make your varied sentence attempts easier to follow.

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