Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14

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 future all cars, buses and trucks would be automated. The only people who will travel in these vehicles will only be passengers as they wouldn't need any driver.

I firmly believe that in the foreseeable future, the driverless transport would certainly beneficial for the people as it saves the time for drivers as they can do some other activities of their interest during long journey. But it also has some drawbacks due to its high cost of maintaining and developing this technology.

One major advantage of driverless vehicles is the mitigation in road accidents because most of these accidents are caused due to driver's error. Furthermore, due to advance technology, automated cars have advance sensors, cameras and commands for auto-parking. All these facilities will significantly be convenient for the public. The individuals will also prefer driverless cars rather than other transport due to safety and reliance purposes. For example, if someone has lost its vehicle, he will easily find it through more advanced tracking and security system because it will record the personal information along with location of vehicle.

On the other hand, there are also some disadvantages of automated vehicles as it may reduce the employment opportunities for professional drivers such as taxi drivers and delivery workers. Moreover, it may have some technical failure during unusual situation such as extreme weather, road construction or unexpected obstacle. There can also be privacy issues because driverless cars may collect information about passengers, routes and travel habits. If this data is not properly protected, it could be misused or stolen.

In conclusion, overall the driverless cars make transportation more convenient, their possible effects on employment, cost, safety and privacy should be carefully considered. But the vehicles controlled by driver should be more preferable to avoid any technical error and security fault during unexpected situations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of driverless vehicles, leading to a clear personal position in the conclusion. Ideas are relevant and extended, such as the discussion on accident mitigation, employment impact, and privacy concerns. However, some arguments lack deeper elaboration. For example, the point about auto-parking and tracking is slightly tangential to the main debate on the overall advantages versus disadvantages, and the conclusion abruptly pivots to state a preference for driver-controlled vehicles, which slightly contradicts the earlier nuanced discussion. Nevertheless, the main task requirements are met adequately, aligning with a Band 6.5 or 6 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing that separates the introduction, advantages, disadvantages, and conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts in logic, such as 'One major advantage', 'Furthermore', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally become mechanical or slightly confusing, as seen in the sentence 'For example, if someone has lost its vehicle...', where the pronoun agreement ('its' instead of 'his or her' or 'their') creates minor friction. Paragraph progression is generally logical, but the internal flow within paragraphs could be tighter. This performance corresponds to a Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'mitigation', 'foreseeable future', and 'employment opportunities'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'high cost of maintaining and developing' instead of 'development and maintenance costs', and 'reliance purposes' instead of 'reliability'. Additionally, there are minor lexical errors like 'lost its vehicle' instead of 'stolen vehicle'. Spelling is generally good, but the imprecise word choices place this response firmly in the Band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, demonstrating attempts at conditional clauses ('if someone has lost...') and relative clauses. However, grammatical errors are frequent enough to draw attention. There are issues with modal verbs and tense consistency in the opening sentences ('In future all cars... would be automated') and subject-verb agreement issues ('driverless cars make... should be carefully considered'). Punctuation and article usage also exhibit minor slips. Despite these errors, communication is rarely impeded, supporting a Band 6 score.

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