Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-19

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)

With the advancements of the technologies and Artificial intelligence, numbers of jobs have been replaced by the Robots or AI in general. Among other sectors which got effected, transportation is also one of them.

when we think about the advantages of replacing drivers with automated systems, where cars, buses and trucks will completely driverless, we can find various positive outcomes that we can receive. But, the main question that arises here is, do we think the advantages of driverless vehicles outweigh the disadvantages? My answer will be probably be no.

Although, there will number of advantages to this, in terms of reducing the financial overload on the companies because they will not be obliged to pay the drivers. The manpower will be reduced to minimum. It could also benefit IT industry and AI. To err is human, so countless numbers of wreckless road accidents can also be avoided because all the vehicles will be programmed and automated. So, road safety is one of the main advantage. The companies can also use those fundings in other projects, that will in turn flourish their businesses. the accuracy in the navigations will also be improved.

But, there are many drawbacks of driverless vehicles. The first and the foremost class of people that will get effected by this will be Professional Drivers. there are Millions of people around the world, whose sole earning relies on either, providing public transport, working in different transport companies like Ubers or the School and public bus drivers whose lives depends on these jobs. It will also have an adverse impact on the people working in shipping companies and traders.

So poverty and joblessness will be one of the biggest issues which could lead to many social, moral and socio-economic issues. among these, one of the concern that arises is reliability on the Artificial Intelligence. Hundreds of cases reported across the globe, where the vehicles were unable to function properly due to system malfunction because of any reason. so safety and security of passengers is at a very high risk.

we are living in a digital world, where social interaction of humans is reduced to minimum, if we take this step, it is also going to impact our social abilities to some extent.

So as for someone, who has been living in the gulf since past 6 years, where hundreds and thousands of people from third world countries rely solely on driving and earning for their families, the advantages do not overweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of driverless vehicles and clearly states a position that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The ideas presented are generally relevant, such as financial savings for companies, enhanced road safety, massive job losses for professional drivers, and potential system malfunctions. However, some arguments tend to be slightly repetitive and could be extended further with deeper examples or analysis. For instance, the discussion on job losses and economic impact is touched upon but could have been elaborated with more specific long-term consequences. Overall, the task is addressed adequately and meets the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response shows a clear overall progression with a recognizable introduction, body paragraphs discussing advantages and disadvantages separately, and a distinct concluding stance. However, paragraphing and mechanical cohesion are somewhat faulty in places. For example, some paragraphs are overly fragmented, such as starting a new line with 'So poverty and joblessness will be one of the biggest issues...', which disrupts the smooth flow of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes mechanically or awkwardly, such as repetitive starting phrases like 'So' or 'Among these'. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical transitions between sentences within paragraphs could be improved to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'financial overload', 'socio-economic issues', and 'system malfunction'. However, there are notable lexical errors and awkward word choices throughout the text. For example, 'wreckless' is misspelled, 'effected' is used instead of 'affected' in multiple instances, and phrases like 'sole earning relies on' contain unnatural collocations. Additionally, punctuation errors with capitalization in the middle of sentences ('so safety and security', 'we are living') detract from the overall precision. These minor inaccuracies limit the score to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing clauses introduced by 'although', 'where', and 'if'. However, there is a lack of consistent control over complex structures, leading to grammatical errors and punctuation issues. Examples include fragment sentences and comma splices, such as 'Although, there will number of advantages to this, in terms of reducing...' and missing auxiliary verbs like 'where cars, buses and trucks will completely driverless'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the writing from reaching a Band 7.0.

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

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