Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-22
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)
The near future will feature fully autonomous, driverless vehicles. This includes cars, buses and even trucks. I personnally stand by the claim that these driverless vehicles have their advantages outweighing their drawbacks.
Firstly, the current technologies we have today in the field of transporation demonstrate how successful these innovations can be at contributing to significant developments in this domain. Take for example, driverless Uber cabs, or the latest Tesla RoboTaxis. While the technology behind these vehicles is still in its infancy, it has has potential of leading to several the breakthroughs research and development before going mainstream. As long as there's demand for these vehicles and public interest, more improvement will eventually be made.
Next, as these technologies evolve, accidents and problems decrease. When accidents reduce, this technology gains people's trust. The faster the number of people trusting these vehicles grows, the more favourable the public opinion on these technologies become, and the more easier it becomes to adopt it worldwide. Several related past instances of technologies showing successful adoption include electric vehicles. 15 years ago, electric vehicles where seen as unreliable, inefficient and niche. However the debut of reliable models such as the Tesla Model S, alongside people enjoying their new electric vehicles, has led to global compaines manufacturing subsequent reliable vehicles for more markets. the same thing can happen to driverless vehicles, too.
As clearly stated above, I think that the upsides of of driverless vehicles overshadow their downsides, and their adoption in the future is becoming not only about satisfaction, but also about personal safety concerns.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the prompt by stating a clear position that the advantages of driverless vehicles outweigh the disadvantages. Ideas are introduced and supported with examples such as Tesla RoboTaxis and the adoption trajectory of electric vehicles. However, the development of ideas tends to be slightly repetitive, particularly in the discussion of public trust and adoption rates. Furthermore, the prompt asks to weigh advantages against disadvantages, but the response focuses almost exclusively on the advantages and the process of adoption, dedicating very little attention to the counter-arguments or drawbacks. This prevents the essay from reaching a higher band score. Nonetheless, a clear stance is maintained from the introduction to the conclusion, satisfying the main requirements of Band 6.5 or a solid Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. The student attempts to use cohesive devices such as 'Firstly' and 'Next', and logical progression is generally maintained. However, paragraphing could be structured more effectively, and some transitions feel a bit mechanical or simplistic. Referencing is occasionally slightly unclear, such as 'the same thing can happen to driverless vehicles, too', where closer textual ties would improve flow. Overall, the organization is easy to follow, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors where cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, but logical progression is present throughout.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms like 'autonomous', 'infancy', 'mainstream', and 'favourable'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('personnally', 'transporation', 'compaines') and occasional awkward phrasing or redundancies, such as 'have their advantages outweighing their drawbacks' and 'more easier'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are evident, but precision in word choice and collocation is inconsistent. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response comfortably within the Band 6 category for lexical resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The essay features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional and comparative structures such as 'The faster the number of people trusting these vehicles grows, the more favourable the public opinion... become'. There are several grammatical and mechanical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('public opinion... become' instead of 'becomes', 'electric vehicles where seen' instead of 'were seen'), double prepositions ('upsides of of'), and missing words or minor typos ('has has potential'). Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication, and the overall structural variety justifies a Band 6 score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.