Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-27
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
In the future all cars, buses and trucks will be driverless. The only people travelling inside these vehicles will be passengers.
Do you think the advantages of driverless vehicles outweigh the disadvantages?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
In the future, it highly depends that all transport vehicles like cars, buses, and trucks will be driverless; the only passengers would be traveling inside these vehicles without a driver. I strongly believe that it is a mega change we would be seeing in the future, which has more advantages than disadvantages.
AI does not get tired; they can drive without taking a single pause or breaking traffic rules, so there are less chances of accidents in the future. Moreover, driverless vehicles can communicate with each other to reduce traffic jams or any trouble that would be faced today. On top of that, elderly and disabled people can easily travel without depending on anyone. Nowadays, they are waiting for someone to drop them at their ideal destination; in that way, their precious time has been passed in waiting for someone who drops them, so after driverless cars, they don't depend on anyone.
On the other hand, still some disadvantages are that professional drivers like taxi, bus, and truck drivers will lose their jobs, and they would face difficulty to earn money and feed their family. And second, software errors or system hacking cause severe accidents; generally speaking, glitches can occur in AI at any time. This ruins systems, and we won't even realize it until major accidents happen. This has become a critical issue that AI engineers need to address urgently.
As compared to advantages and disadvantages, it clearly shows that advantages win that race, and it would help passengers travel safely, while it is still required to work on AI systems to assure that passenger life would be safe while traveling in driverless vehicles.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, covering safety and accessibility as advantages, and job loss and technical risks as disadvantages. However, the development of these points is somewhat superficial. For instance, the argument regarding job loss is mentioned but not fully explored in terms of economic or societal impact. The conclusion is clear, but the overall depth of the arguments is more characteristic of a Band 6, as the ideas are presented rather than thoroughly extended or supported with nuanced analysis.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is logically organized into four paragraphs: an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moreover', 'On top of that', and 'On the other hand', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the opening of the final paragraph. Referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences within the second paragraph could be smoother to improve the overall coherence.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'mega change' and 'critical issue', though 'mega change' is informal and not ideal for an academic essay. Some word choices are slightly imprecise, such as 'it highly depends that' in the introduction, which is an unnatural collocation. The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but lacks the precision and sophistication required for a higher band score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as 'there are less chances' (should be 'fewer'), 'their precious time has been passed' (tense error), and 'software errors or system hacking cause' (subject-verb agreement). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure in the opening sentence is awkward. The errors do not impede communication, but they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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