Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-16

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 5.0)

As discussed earlier, in the future all cars, buses and trucks will be driverless. The only people travelling inside these vehicles will be passengers, which clearly shows different innovations in technology.

From my perspective, although driverless vehicles may offer more advantages but I think the advantages will never outweigh the disadvantages.

I believe that the disadvantages outweigh advantages because we know that cars, buses and every vehicle is a machinery and they may cause sudden problem. For example if a woman is travelling in driverless vehicle and in the mid of destination the car stop because of some problem , or car breaks fails what will she do? Especially if this happens in the sparsely populated area it will be difficult for her to rescue, or to ask someone for help; conversely if she is travelling with driver he probably look out for the solution of a problem and somehow try to control the car if the break fails.

Furthermore there are many people who earn through uber so these vehicles put their job at risk, which will cause an adverse affect on their living. Another drawback is that if someone from hospital is using a driverless vehicle and suddenly while travelling he becomes unwell then how the driverless vehicle would help? Obviously if there will be a driver he instantly take some step and help the person or take him back to the hospital.

Overall I think driverless vehicles is not a good innovation in technology because it has many drawbacks which will definitely affect people life to some extent so vehicles with driver is a better choice.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The candidate addresses the prompt and presents a clear position throughout the essay, arguing that the disadvantages of driverless vehicles outweigh their advantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the discussion around technical failures relies heavily on narrow examples, such as a woman travelling alone or a hospital patient becoming unwell, which restricts deeper analysis of broader societal, economic, or logistical implications. While all parts of the task are addressed, the arguments remain somewhat superficial and lack extension. Under the Band 6 descriptors, the candidate addresses all parts of the task, though some ideas are under-developed. Therefore, a score of 6.0 is appropriate.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a discernible structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, paragraphing is somewhat problematic; the opening sentence repeats the prompt awkwardly, and the main body aggregates multiple distinct ideas into block paragraphs without optimal logical progression. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or faulty, as seen with transitional phrases like "From my perspective, although driverless vehicles may offer more advantages but I think," which creates grammatical friction and awkward logical flow. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and paragraph transitions could be smoother. These characteristics align closely with Band 5, where there is some organization and progression, but cohesive devices are inadequate and referencing is sometimes faulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate basic ideas about technology, employment, and safety. However, the range is limited and repetitive, relying frequently on simple words like "car," "problem," and "travel." There are also noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as "sudden problem," "in the mid of destination," "sparsely populated area" (used appropriately, though contextually forced), and "earn through uber." Attempts at less common vocabulary are sparse and occasionally inaccurate. Because the lexical range is minimally adequate for the task and noticeable errors occur without completely blocking communication, this performance fits the Band 5 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional structures and subordinate clauses, such as "For example if a woman is travelling... what will she do?" However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ("in driverless vehicle"), subject-verb agreement issues ("the car stop," "break fails," "he instantly take"), and double marking of conjunctions ("although... but"). Punctuation errors, such as spaces before commas, are also present. While communication is not entirely impeded, the high frequency of errors prevents the response from reaching Band 6. The pattern of frequent errors alongside a basic mix of structures corresponds to a Band 5 score.

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

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