Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-28

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 best path to give sufficient accommodation in big cities is to create high apartment blocks. I strongly agree with this statement, people come to live in cities to earn livelihood and cities have numerous job opportunities, therefore, giving accommodation to many people in cities can only be possible by building tall apartments .

On one hand, urbanization creates more opportunities than the rural areas. Providing accommodation to all is nearly impossible without tall building. People come to cities with the hope of getting job. Though it can not erase the unemployment rate, it can deduct. Villagers who live in rural areas have no certainty of getting job, however, they can live in cities with more exposure. If in a country more citizens will work, the country will grow eventually. For instance, China is known as developed country, and it has more tall buldings in compare to other countries. In recent documentary, it has shown that its success rates are mostly high for cities by holding high GDP, it also has village area where people are not contributing much in work. That's why those areas are not included as developed areas.

On the other hand, though citites are congested to accommodate many people, it is good initiative to build tall apartments. Otherwise, living in cities will be very difficult, and people will take shelter in roadside, which can effect citizens while using the roads. Apart from that, the environment will be more polluted if people will be on roadsides. For instance, During recent flood in Bangladesh, people who lost their home continued to lived in roadside of cities. However, after a certain period of time, it became very polluted area along with hassle for citizens, while using the roads, and citizens felt annoyed instead of sympathize with the people. If cities will have more tall building it can provide sufficient housing to people.

The most efficient way to accommodate sufficient housing in big urban areas is to build tall buildings. I totally agree with this view, as cities have more work opportunities than other areas, therefore, it has no other option right now to provide home this much of people, except making buildings tall to make them stop living in roadside.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you strongly agree that tall apartment blocks are the best way to provide homes, and you return to this view in the conclusion. You also give relevant reasons, including the pressure of urbanisation and the risk of people living on roadsides, with examples from China and Bangladesh. However, the response only partly develops the task. The discussion of job opportunities and national economic growth does not clearly explain why high-rise housing is the best housing solution, and the China example makes broad claims without showing how its buildings address housing need. Develop the housing argument more directly, and consider a limitation or alternative before explaining why high-rise construction remains preferable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs signalled by “On one hand” and “On the other hand,” and a conclusion. This helps readers identify the main sections. However, progression within paragraphs is not always clear: the first body paragraph moves from housing to employment, national growth and GDP, while the connection between these points is not fully explained. Linking phrases such as “For instance” and “That's why” are sometimes used where the logical relationship needs more development. The conclusion largely repeats the introduction rather than drawing together the reasons. Organise each paragraph around one housing-related point and use clearer references to connect evidence to that point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “urbanization,” “accommodation,” “congested,” and “polluted,” and the main meaning is generally understandable. However, the range is limited by repeated general terms such as “cities,” “people,” and “tall buildings,” and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward. Examples include “deduct” for reducing unemployment, “high apartment blocks,” and “provide home this much of people.” Spelling errors such as “buldings” and “citites” also reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise housing vocabulary and check collocations and spelling; this will make your ideas clearer and more natural without changing your overall argument.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “Though” and “however,” and your meaning is usually recoverable. However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some passages difficult to follow. For example, “I strongly agree with this statement, people come to live in cities…” joins independent clauses with a comma, while “If in a country more citizens will work” uses an unsuitable conditional form. There are also recurring problems with articles, agreement and verb forms, as in “a developed country,” “cities will have,” and “continued to lived.” Practise separating complete sentences and checking tense and verb patterns, especially in conditional statements.

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