Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-05

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)

in recent decades high urbanization cause shortage of acomoodation in the cities the best way to overcome from this shortage provide enough homes in large cities is to build high rise apartment blocks. i highly agree by this because vertical expension maximizes limited spaces,though it must be accompanied by robust building to prevent overcrowding.

in contrast building residential blocks is good and best practical method for settle the dense population is best way and large cities suffer from an acute scarcity of land, making horizontal expansion both expensive and unsustainable. by building upword , urban planners can house thousands of citizens on a relative small geographic footprint. for instance, cities like singapore and hongkong have sucessfully resolve their severe housing deficits primarly through government-led high rise housing projects furthermore, settle down high popullation has also make easy to deliver the utilities of munciple corporation like electricity, water etc.

however, there are some problem face are due to hig rise appartment many indivisual issolated and not get surrounding like neighborhood and school are over crowded with very busy road place is very congusted extra sevice should be provide and staring healthcare services, howver, tall building is the solution for shortage of accomodation but government also invest lot of money in intial days during project.

coclusion, build tall apartment blocks in the lagre cities is the solution of scarcity of the housing because it vey less geographic footprint due to upword development as compare to horizontal expansion of the housing or neighbourhood.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a clear position in favour of tall apartment blocks and give relevant reasons: they use scarce land efficiently, can house many people, and make utility provision easier. The Singapore and Hong Kong examples also support your main point. You acknowledge disadvantages, including isolation and pressure on schools and roads, but these points are compressed and the response does not explain how they affect your overall view or how they could be addressed. The discussion is therefore only partly developed. The conclusion restates your position but adds little. The response contains 241 words, so it is 9 words below the required minimum; this limits the space available to develop and support your ideas. Develop each main reason with a clearer explanation or example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an identifiable introduction, supporting paragraphs and conclusion, and the reader can follow the broad contrast between the benefits and drawbacks of high-rise housing. However, progression within paragraphs is often unclear. The second paragraph begins, “in contrast,” although it mainly supports your position, and several ideas are joined together without clear relationships. In the paragraph on disadvantages, isolation, crowded schools, busy roads and healthcare appear in one long sequence, making it difficult to see which points are most important. Linking phrases such as “furthermore” and “however” are attempted, but their use is sometimes mechanical or inaccurate. Give each paragraph a clear central purpose, order supporting points logically, and use transitions that accurately show the relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt some topic-specific vocabulary, including “urban planners,” “scarcity of land,” “horizontal expansion” and “geographic footprint,” which helps communicate the subject. However, the range is limited and many spelling and word-choice errors make parts of the response difficult to read, for example “acomoodation,” “upword,” “congusted” and “munciple corporation.” Some combinations are also unnatural, such as “settle the dense population” and “deliver the utilities.” These errors are noticeable throughout, so the reader sometimes has to infer your intended meaning. Build a reliable set of housing and urban-planning expressions, check spelling carefully, and learn common collocations in context. More precise vocabulary would help you express the advantages and disadvantages without relying on repeated general terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to express reasons and contrast, including a complex opening sentence and clauses introduced by “though” and “because.” However, the range of sentence structures is limited, and attempts at longer sentences are often faulty. For example, “in recent decades high urbanization cause shortage” lacks accurate tense and sentence structure, while “many individual isolated and not get surrounding” does not form a complete, clear clause. There are also recurring problems with articles, agreement, plurals and punctuation, and several sentences run together without appropriate boundaries. These errors can make the reader work to understand your meaning. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then combine them using controlled subordinate clauses and check each sentence for a clear subject and verb.

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