Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-27

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)

Weather high rise building tall apartments are the most effective way to solve housing shortage. I strongly agree with this statement.

On the one hand, tall apartments will save space, many families can live on a small land. Therefore, tall buildings are more affordable for people thus, smaller flats can cost less than individual houses. For instance, a city can accommodate thousands of families in apartment instead of spreading houses accross large area of land. As a result, land for greenery would be left and in a large city tall building can be more effective for people.

Furthermore, through large building convenient facilities can be provide such as, residence may have access to lifts, shops, parking area and public transport. On the other hand, place could become more crowded , likewise too many people can put pressure on roads and hospitals. Not that; but also, residance may have less personal space and face noise problem. Similarly, tall buildings could have high risk and may require significant construction and materials.

To conclude with, although tall buildings accommodate more people and use limited land effectively , developing entirely on high rise building can cause overcrowding , city government should also develop sufficient housing and should improve infrastructure for local residents.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear from the opening: you strongly agree that tall apartment blocks can help address housing shortages. You give relevant reasons, including efficient land use, lower-cost flats and access to facilities, and you acknowledge drawbacks such as pressure on services and reduced privacy. However, several points are asserted rather than explained—for example, the claim that flats “can cost less” would be stronger with a clearer explanation or a specific example. The conclusion also introduces a broader recommendation about developing housing and infrastructure without fully clarifying how this relates to your position. The response is 42 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop and support your ideas. Expand the main reasons and address the balance between high-rise housing and other solutions more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, a body paragraph presenting benefits, a paragraph that includes drawbacks, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the general direction of your argument. However, progression within the body is uneven: the second paragraph moves from facilities to overcrowding, privacy and construction risks, so the relationship between these points is not always clear. Some linking expressions are mechanical or inaccurately used, such as “On the other hand” when introducing a further benefit and “Not that; but also” before a drawback. The conclusion repeats earlier points rather than drawing them together. Group benefits and disadvantages into clearly focused paragraphs, and use linking phrases only when their logical relationship is accurate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of topic vocabulary, including “housing shortage,” “accommodate,” “infrastructure,” “overcrowding” and “public transport.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond very basic terms. However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors sometimes make the message less clear, including “accross,” “residance” and “Weather” in the opening. Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “through large building convenient facilities” and “high risk,” which is vague in this context. Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise phrases such as “access to essential services” or “construction costs and safety risks” would help express your ideas clearly without relying on broad wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a cause-and-effect structure with “Therefore” and a concession in the conclusion beginning “although.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “many families can live on a small land” has an incorrect article and noun construction, while “facilities can be provide” uses the wrong verb form. The sentence beginning “Not that; but also” is not grammatically complete, and punctuation is inconsistent, including spaces before commas. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a correctly formed subordinate clause, then check subject–verb agreement, articles, verb forms and punctuation before submitting.

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