Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-21

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 upcoming period of time, all land vehicles including cars, buses and trucks will automatically be able to transport to various locations while the only individuals travelling will be the passengers. In my opinion, the merits of driverless vehicles will certainly outweigh the demerits of driverless means of vehicles. My opinion will be further discussed below.

There are numerous reasons for the driverless vehicles to actually surpass normal vehicles because of the less efforts required to actually travel through one point to another. Drivers used to be exhausted a lot both mentally and physically when travelling for a longer period of time. They couldn't take their eyes off the road for even a split second which may have eventaully led to an accidental prone travel. Their body couldn't keep up with the same posture for hours making mind and muscle connection complex in various scenarios but now as Electronic Driverless vehicles are introduced, Drivers have to worry less as there is no need for a driver anymore. Travelling has been much more easier as you can move with just the help of instructions.

Driverless cause almost no carbon emission so basically it doesn't contibute to air pollution reducing the risk for different amount of diseases caused through it. It even reduces accountability cost, the particular reason for this is the removal of petroleum products by actually using less amount of electricity instead.

One of the major demerits is that drivers have now become unemployed due to the intoduction of driverless cars making a huge change in the global economy and a risk in the carrer factor.

To conclude, I think the intoduction of driverless cars have both merits and demerits however, I think its more advantageous because of the less contibution towards pollution and exhaustion to the drivers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of driverless vehicles, ultimately taking a clear position that the merits outweigh the demerits. Key ideas are introduced, such as the reduction of driver fatigue, lower carbon emissions, and job losses for human drivers. However, some of these points are underdeveloped and lack sufficient supporting evidence or specific examples. For instance, the discussion on carbon emissions and economic impact is quite brief. The writer mentions that 'Driverless cause almost no carbon emission,' but this argument is generalized. Consequently, the task response aligns well with Band 6, as all parts of the task are addressed, but some areas require deeper exploration and more robust development.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs addressing separate points, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct ideas, such as the benefits of reduced fatigue versus economic drawbacks. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally mechanical or repetitive, as seen with phrases like 'The particular reason for this is...' and frequent use of filler phrasing. Referencing is sometimes unclear, for example, 'contribute to air pollution reducing the risk for different amount of diseases caused through it.' While the progression of ideas is generally understandable, the flow is disrupted by awkward transitions and limited cohesive variety, placing the writing securely in the Band 6 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'demerits,' 'accountability cost,' and 'global economy.' However, there are numerous word choice errors and spelling mistakes throughout the text, including 'eventaully' instead of eventually, 'contibute' instead of contribute, 'carrer' instead of career, and 'intoduction' instead of introduction. Furthermore, collocations are sometimes unnatural, such as 'accidental prone travel' and 'risk in the carrer factor.' These lexical inaccuracies do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the score to Band 5.5, as the vocabulary control shows frequent flaws.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Drivers used to be exhausted a lot both mentally and physically when travelling for a longer period of time.' However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('Driverless cause almost no carbon emission'), missing prepositions, and awkward phrasing like 'transport to various locations' instead of being transported. Punctuation is generally basic, and run-on structures occasionally appear without proper demarcation. Because the grammatical errors are frequent and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader, the performance is representative of Band 5.5.

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

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