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)

The finest option to provide enough houses in giant cities is to build elevated apartment blocks . I partially agree with this view because although we need more homes for more peoples in the cities , it will majorly affect the environment.

Firstly, the population in the city areas are increasing day by day beacuse of good employment opportunitues in thje cities .Nowadays many people have become smart and leaving the small cities and come to big cities to find a better life and jop opportunities and we need more spaces for more people .Secondly, people have a fantasy to live in standard place to maintain their social life . Due to the high maintainenance people have stared shifting to big apartments leaving their homes to maintain their life and to show off in social world.

on the other hand, it highly affects the environment because of the pollution while construction. Nowadys people have become selfish and dont care about thier life but if more tall blocks are builded then they have to cut the trees and have to suffer from deforestation. In the large cities we cant see greenary because of the need of more homes but it can cause us to death. for example we need land to constuct the apartments and while building that blocks the area will polluted and if there is no greenary around us we may suffer from many diseases .

To conclude i believe there should be more homes in large cities but also should be taken care of environment. A balanced approach is that we need more places to stay in big cities but the surrounding where we will live should not be neglected.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is that you partly agree: you recognise the need for more homes in cities, while arguing that tall construction can harm the environment. This addresses the central question, and the points about urban population growth, housing demand, tree removal and pollution are relevant. However, the response only partly develops the comparison implied by “the best way”: it does not explain why tall blocks are preferable to alternatives such as building outward or reusing existing sites. Some support is also unclear, particularly the claim that people move into apartments to maintain social status. Develop each main reason with a clear explanation or a specific example, and make your degree of agreement consistent from the introduction through the conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph supporting increased housing, a contrasting environmental paragraph, and a conclusion. “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “on the other hand” help signal the direction of the discussion. Overall, the reader can follow the main argument. However, some links are mechanical, and ideas within paragraphs do not always progress clearly. For example, the second point about social status is not clearly connected to whether tall blocks are the best solution, while the environmental paragraph moves from construction pollution to deforestation and disease without fully explaining the links. Use topic sentences that state each paragraph’s main claim, then develop it in a logical sequence with clearer references between sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “employment opportunities,” “deforestation,” “pollution,” and “environment,” so the reader can understand the general subject. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or informal, which sometimes makes meaning less clear. Examples include “giant cities,” “standard place,” “high maintainenance,” and “suffer from many diseases” as a broad consequence. Spelling errors such as “beacuse,” “opportunitues,” and “greenary” are also noticeable. Aim for precise, natural phrases and check spelling carefully. Replacing vague expressions with terms such as “urban population,” “quality housing,” and “environmental damage” would make the argument more appropriate for an academic essay.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including a contrastive opening with “although” and a conditional idea beginning “if more tall blocks are builded.” However, complex structures are often not controlled accurately, and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to read. For example, “the population … are increasing” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “people have stared shifting” and “blocks are builded” use incorrect verb forms. Articles, plurals and punctuation also need attention, as in “in social world” and the inconsistent capitalisation after full stops. Practise building accurate sentences with one main clause and a subordinate clause, then check agreement, verb forms and sentence boundaries before adding further complexity.

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