Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-10-28

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)

In contemporary world, the increasing prevalence of rely on private cars for daily commute in many countries become a major concern for the modern society. There are many effects of this issue on the daily life.Although the use of private cars provide convenience, its effects are majorly nagative because it increases traffic congestion and environmental pollution.

One of the major effects of using private cars is traffic congestion.This is because of the increasing in a number of people driving, there can be increase in a numbers of vehicles on the road, which can lead to traffic congestion. For instance, in many big cities,commuters drive to their workplace instaed of using public transport, there can be increase in traffic during peak hours, they may reach office late and frastrated after a long time in traffic. Therefore, I believe people may face this issue on their daily lives. Furthermore, private cars can be expensive, in terms of fules and insurance, which significantly increases amount of fossil fule use and leading to reduce in the non-renewable energy sources. However, having private car might be convenient, as people can drive at their own pace. Nonetheless, this enefits can be replace by using public transportation, if government make it realieble and convenient.

The reliance on private car could have a negative effects on the environment. This is the fact that using private vehicles can increases the amount of carbon emission, which can contribute to increase in the effects of globle worming. For example, in some cities, there is increasing in air pollution can cause many health problems such as difficulty in breathing and in long term it will affects many oragans of the human body.

In conclusion, there are several effects of using private cars, including traffic and fuel consumption. Alothough driving private vehicle provides convenient, overall, I believe this trend has a major nagative effects on the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the prompt: you explain effects on daily life, especially congestion, fuel use and pollution, and state that the overall impact is negative despite the convenience of cars. The examples of commuters arriving late and pollution affecting health are relevant. However, some points are more fully explained than others. Congestion is linked to commuting and delays, while the claim that car costs increase fossil-fuel use and reduce non-renewable resources is not clearly explained. The environmental paragraph also gives a consequence but could develop how car dependence changes people’s routines or communities. To strengthen the response, explain each cause-and-effect link more precisely and support the main points with a specific, well-developed example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. The first body paragraph focuses mainly on congestion and convenience, while the second turns to environmental effects, so the reader can follow the main progression. You also use linking expressions such as “For instance,” “Furthermore,” “However” and “In conclusion.” At times, though, connections are mechanical or unclear. In the congestion example, several ideas are joined in one long sentence, making the relationship between traffic, lateness and frustration difficult to track. The shift from fuel costs to convenience is also abrupt. Use clearer sentence boundaries and make each paragraph’s central point and supporting details connect more directly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “traffic congestion,” “public transport,” “carbon emission,” “fossil fuel” and “non-renewable energy sources,” which helps communicate the subject. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “the increasing prevalence” and “significantly increases.” However, inaccurate word forms, spelling and collocations are noticeable and sometimes make the meaning less clear: “nagative,” “glob(e) worming,” “instaed,” “frastrated” and “realieble” are examples. Phrases such as “increasing in a number” and “reduce in the non-renewable energy sources” are also unnatural. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common word partnerships, for example “an increase in the number of vehicles” and “deplete non-renewable resources.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “because,” “which” and “although.” This gives the response some structural variety, and the main ideas are generally understandable. However, errors in sentence construction and agreement recur. For example, “the increasing prevalence … become” needs a matching verb form, while “the use of private cars provide” and “private vehicles can increases” show subject–verb agreement problems. Some sentences are incomplete or joined awkwardly, particularly “For instance … there can be increase in traffic … they may reach office late,” where the relationships between clauses need clearer punctuation and structure. Review articles, plurals and verb forms, and divide long sentences into complete, logically connected clauses.

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

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