Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-30

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 5.0)

The most appropriate method to tackle the housing shortage in large cities is to construct skyscrapers that can meet the needs of growing population. I agree that it is the best solution according to the community preference but not the sole solution to manage the daily needs of people. In this essay, I will demonstrate the advantages and divadvantages and other solutions of this problem.

In contemporary society, growing need of houses is the major issue in commercial cities like Lahore, Karachi and London that is solved by building sky-rocketing buildings. On the one hand, These buildings accomodate lage number of families by occupying less land. On the other hand, these skyscrapers can be useful as business, education or social purposes.

But its disadvantages overpowered its advantages because individuals living in congested areas face noise pollution as a result their mental health will be disturbed, these tall buildings also lack play grounds as well as fresh aie that are essential part of physical health.

The most convenient solution for this predicament is to reconstruct old houses as

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify a position—that tall apartment buildings are useful but not the only solution—and give relevant points about accommodating many families on less land and possible effects on residents’ health. However, the response addresses the question only partially: the advantages and disadvantages are asserted rather than explained with specific support, and the alternative of reconstructing old houses is introduced but left unfinished. The conclusion and a clear final judgement are also missing. The response is 177 words, below the required 250, so there is not enough development to fully answer the prompt. To strengthen the response, explain how high-rise construction compares with alternatives and support each main point with a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation: an introduction states your view, followed by discussion of benefits, drawbacks and a possible alternative. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help signal contrast. However, the overall progression is incomplete because the final paragraph stops at “to reconstruct old houses as,” leaving the argument unfinished and without a conclusion. Some connections between ideas are also unclear; for example, the claim that skyscrapers serve “business, education or social purposes” is not linked explicitly to providing homes. Develop each paragraph around one clear point, use transitions to show how the points relate, and finish with a summary of your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “housing shortage,” “congested areas,” “noise pollution” and “mental health,” which makes the subject clear. There are also some less suitable or inaccurate choices that limit precision, such as “community preference” and “sky-rocketing buildings”; the latter is not the natural term for tall apartment buildings. Spelling errors, including “divadvantages,” “accomodate,” “lage” and “aie,” are noticeable and reduce control. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully. For instance, “high-rise apartment blocks” is more precise than “sky-rocketing buildings,” while “residents’ well-being” can express the health concern more broadly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple statements and some attempts at more complex structures, such as “I agree that it is the best solution … but not the sole solution” and the sentence beginning “On the one hand.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and punctuation are frequent enough to affect clarity. For example, “growing need of houses” lacks an article and has an unclear noun phrase, while “face noise pollution as a result their mental health will be disturbed” joins clauses without suitable punctuation or a connector. Capitalisation is also inconsistent in “These buildings.” Practise separating complete ideas with full stops or using accurate conjunctions, and check articles and sentence boundaries.

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