Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The best solution for housing crisis in large growing cities is to build vertical apartment buildings.

Yes, I agree with this idea that vertical housing can reduce housing problem of cities and it can accomudate more people in less space. It will also help to solve the pollution problem caused by the horizontal growth of cities that is taking much more space and is less effiecient and using more energy resources and also producing more carbon footprint.

Building tall apartment blocks will help cities horizontal overgrowth issue and in handling housing problem. As there is less space to make enough homes for everyone. If we start making one by one seperate houses for every one it would be impossible to mange large population of cities. Another issue conventional housing for everyone will cause is that will turn cities into a concrete mess. Meanwhile one tall building can accomodate hundrads of people in same space which can be use to make four to five indiviual houses.

Furthermore building vertical housing towers will also reduce carbon emisions as it will use less construction or irreversable energy resources as compared to building conventional houses for everyone.eventually help in reducing globel warming and urban admininstration can use extra space to build natural parks and use that space more effieciently that will help in curing pollution and other environmental issues.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the best way to solve housing crisis in urban areas is to go for vertical housing solutions, it will not just help with cities space problem but also it's an environment friendly solution.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the opening and conclusion: you agree that tall apartment blocks are the best response to housing shortages. You give relevant reasons, especially that one building can house many people on limited land and that compact development may leave space for parks. These points address the task, but some are asserted more than explained. For example, the claim that vertical housing will reduce carbon emissions and global warming needs a clearer link or a specific example, and the comparison with individual houses is not fully developed. To strengthen the response, explain the conditions under which high-rise housing works well and support one or two key claims with a concrete example. This would make the argument more fully developed and balanced.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs give reasons, and a conclusion restates your position. The ideas generally follow a sensible order, moving from land use to environmental effects. However, progression within sentences and between points is sometimes unclear. The sentence beginning “As there is less space” is a fragment, while “Furthermore” introduces another benefit without clearly distinguishing it from the previous point. Some links, such as “Meanwhile,” do not express the relationship precisely. Use complete topic sentences and make each paragraph develop one main reason, with clear explanation and an example. More precise referencing would also help readers follow how “that space” relates to the land saved by apartment blocks.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “vertical housing,” “housing crisis,” “carbon footprint,” and “natural parks,” which helps communicate the main argument. There is also some attempt to use less common language, such as “conventional housing” and “irreversible energy resources,” although the latter is not an accurate or natural expression in this context. Spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “accomudate,” “effiecient,” and “globel warming,” and some phrases are awkward, such as “cities horizontal overgrowth issue.” These do not prevent understanding, but they reduce precision and control. Check spelling carefully and choose established collocations, for example “urban sprawl” and “energy consumption,” to express your ideas more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including clauses introduced by “as” and “that,” and your main position remains understandable. However, some sentence structures are incomplete or difficult to control. “As there is less space to make enough homes for everyone” is a dependent clause presented as a sentence, and “Another issue conventional housing for everyone will cause is that will turn cities into a concrete mess” has an unclear clause structure. There are also errors with articles, plurals, and agreement, as in “in same space” and “which can be use.” Punctuation is inconsistent, particularly where sentences run together. Practise building complete sentences around one main clause, then check verb forms and sentence boundaries.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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