Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-01

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)

Housing is considered a big problem that faces many countries. More and more people suggest that apartment blocks built in tall buildings are the optimum solution to provide enough homes in big urban areas. In my opinion, this is a great solution for many reasons.

Firstly, in many developed countries, people are overpopulated in big cities where job opportunities are plentiful. Most of the important corporations are found in big cities. As a result, employees struggle to settle near to their workplace because of the high rent rate. Students as well, share a big part in this struggle, as many universities are located in the center of big cities. For example, in the US the prestegious universities are located in the middle of big states.

Secondly, large cities are nearly filled with buildings leaving mostly no sufficient area to install new houses. Governments tried to handle this problems over decades by constructing housing projects close to large cities. Consequently, that leaded to emerging need of proper transportation that required billions of dollars. Another important factor is the presence of sufficient grean ares in rural areas. these areas require presence, so we can not get rid of them.

To conclude, Housing is highly important for both employees and students. therefore, it's important to build big towers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

Your position is clear: you support tall apartment blocks, and you give relevant reasons involving access to jobs and universities and limited space in cities. However, the response addresses the question only partially because the reasons are not fully explained or supported. For instance, the point about employees struggling with rent does not clearly show how high-rise construction would solve that problem, and the example about prestigious US universities is vague. The discussion of rural green areas is also difficult to connect to your main argument. The conclusion repeats your view but does not add a developed final reason. The response is 35 words below the required minimum, which leaves less room to explain your ideas. Develop each reason with a clear link to housing supply and a specific example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “To conclude” help signal the stages of the argument. However, progression within the body paragraphs is uneven: the second paragraph moves from limited land to transport costs and then to rural green areas without clearly showing how these points connect. Some linking is also awkward, as in “Consequently, that leaded to emerging need,” and the conclusion is very brief. To strengthen organisation, make each paragraph develop one central reason, explain its connection to high-rise housing, and use clear references between sentences rather than relying mainly on basic transition markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “job opportunities,” “corporations,” “housing projects,” and “transportation,” which helps communicate the general subject. There is also an attempt at more formal phrasing, such as “the optimum solution.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, including “people are overpopulated,” “high rent rate,” and “install new houses.” Spelling errors such as “prestegious” and “grean ares” also reduce accuracy. These issues do not prevent the reader from understanding the overall argument, but they make parts of it less precise. Aim for natural collocations and check spelling; for example, describe cities as “densely populated” and say that housing is “built” or “constructed.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a reason clause in “because of the high rent rate” and a result structure beginning “As a result.” Most of the main ideas remain understandable. However, errors occur in sentence construction, verb forms, agreement, articles and punctuation. Examples include “Governments tried to handle this problems,” “that leaded to emerging need,” and the lower-case sentence opening “these areas.” The sentence “Students as well, share a big part in this struggle” also has awkward punctuation and structure. To improve accuracy, check singular and plural agreement, use standard past-tense forms such as “led,” and review articles and sentence boundaries. Practising a wider range of controlled complex sentences would also help express the relationships between your ideas more clearly.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.