Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-02

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 ideal way to supply sufficient residences in metropolitan areas is to construct high-rise residential buildings.I strongly agree that constructing vertical housing is the most viable solution to address the accomodation shortage metropolitan areas due to land scarcity.The upcoming paragraphs will discuss it with suitable examples.

To begin with, in major cities there is scarcity of land to build homes separately. However, building verticle housing complex is a perfect method to offer many homes to a numerous families on a same plot of land. For example , cities like Guwahati, does not have adequate amount of land for independent housing. So, vertical housing is a effective method for cities like Guwahati, Mumbai etc.

Another significant point it that High-density housing is more economical to build and maintain, and it allows shared amenities like security, parking, and water supply, reducing living costs.For instance, in my hometown Duliajan, Oil India provides high-rise quarters for its employees at low cost with all facilities, whereas building an independent house would cost a fortune for an individual.

To sum up, I strongly concur that vertical housing development is the optimal approach to mitigate the housing crisis in urban centres, owing to its land efficiency and economic viability. Constructing high rise buildings also solves problems of land scarcity. It provides people to reside in a proper place with many facilities. Hundreds of families could reside in tall apartments in the same building and in the same plot of land.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you strongly agree that high-rise housing is the best response to urban housing shortages. You give two relevant reasons—limited land and lower costs—and support them with examples from Guwahati and Duliajan. However, the discussion is brief and some claims are asserted rather than fully explained; for instance, the point about shared amenities would be stronger if you showed how these reduce costs or help provide more homes. The conclusion repeats the main points instead of adding a final implication. The response also falls seven words short of the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop your ideas. Extend the explanation and support for each reason to address the task more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The ideas generally progress from land scarcity to affordability, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “Another significant point,” and “To sum up” help readers follow the argument. However, the linking can feel mechanical, and the conclusion repeats the land-efficiency point already made rather than synthesising the argument. Some connections are also unclear: “However” does not express a contrast with the preceding statement about land scarcity, and “The upcoming paragraphs will discuss it” is an unnecessary announcement. Use more precise links between claims and examples, and make each paragraph’s progression more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “metropolitan areas,” “high-density housing,” “land scarcity,” and “economic viability,” and your meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “mitigate the housing crisis.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive: “supply sufficient residences” and “offer many homes to a numerous families” sound unnatural, while “vertical housing” is repeated frequently. Spelling errors such as “accomodation” and “verticle” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural, precise combinations and check spelling carefully; a wider range of accurate terms for apartment buildings and housing provision would make the argument more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple and more developed sentence forms, including the clause “whereas building an independent house would cost a fortune for an individual.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors occur. For example, “cities like Guwahati, does not have” has subject–verb disagreement, and “a effective method” uses the wrong article. In “it that High-density housing,” the sentence structure and capitalisation are faulty, while “It provides people to reside” uses an incorrect verb pattern. Punctuation and spacing are also inconsistent, particularly around sentence boundaries. Review agreement, articles, and verb patterns, then proofread punctuation. More accurate complex sentences would strengthen control without sacrificing clarity.

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