Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-09-12

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many parts of the world, people rely on private cars for transportation.

In what ways does reliance on private cars affect the way we live?

Do the effects tend to be positive or negative?

Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Nowadays, people living in different parts of the earth mostly have a personal vehicles instead of using public transportation.

It is rightly said that people uses private vehicles in todays world because life runs very fast and nobody has time to wait. To compete in todays world, eveyone needs to be fast, thats the main reason behind using personal vehicles. It becomes the basic need of everyone especially in large countries because the public tranport is not available everywhere due to extreme weather conditions like excess snowfall, rain, etc. In those areas, it is a need to use private cars.

But in other places where public transport is easily available, people still prefers to have a car, in that situation it becomes a social symbol. Speacially in coutries like India, almost every family owns a car instead of having a good transport facility. Due to this, there is excess traffic on roads causing causing noise pollution and air pollution which impacts environment as well our health.

It can be both advantage & disvantage for having a private cars. Places where public transport is easily availble people can avoid private cars and helps in saving of fuel, money and environment.

In large countries, where transport is not easily availble due to climatic conditions like Canada and USA, it is the need of people having personal vehicle.

So it totally depends on the areas where people are living is a need a social symbol to have a car.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing how the reliance on private cars affects daily life and whether these effects are positive or negative. The student explores reasons such as fast-paced lifestyles, harsh weather conditions, and social status. However, ideas are somewhat repetitive and lack deep development. Furthermore, the length requirement of 250 words is not met, as the text contains 246 words, which results in a penalty to the task achievement score. A position is presented, but it is somewhat blurred in the conclusion where it states it totally depends on the area. To improve, the student should expand further on the specific consequences of car reliance and ensure the essay meets the minimum word count.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has an overarching structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing some organisation. However, progression is somewhat hindered by abrupt transitions and repetitive points. Paragraphing is attempted, but some paragraphs are very short or lack clear internal cohesion. Cohesive devices are used simply, such as 'because' and 'due to this', but referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen with pronouns like 'it' in phrases such as 'It becomes the basic need'. Overall coherence is maintained well enough for the reader to follow the main argument, but a more logical sequencing and smoother transitions between ideas would elevate this score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The lexical resource is adequate for communicating basic ideas, but it features noticeable repetition and errors in word choice and spelling. Examples of vocabulary used include 'personal vehicles', 'social symbol', 'noise pollution', and 'air pollution'. However, there are several spelling and phrasing errors, such as 'tranport', 'speacially', 'coutries', and 'disvantage'. The range of vocabulary is limited, relying heavily on basic words and phrases rather than demonstrating flexibility or precision with less common lexical items. Vocabulary control is sufficient to convey the general message, but spelling slips and lack of variety constrain the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures with 'because', 'due to', and conditional clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as 'people living in different parts of the earth mostly have a personal vehicles' (article and pluralisation error), 'people uses private vehicles' (subject-verb agreement), and 'causing causing noise pollution' (repeated word error). Punctuation and comma splices also occur, such as in 'To compete in todays world, eveyone needs to be fast, thats the main reason behind using personal vehicles.' Despite these errors, the meaning remains mostly clear to the reader.

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