Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-01

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)

Most vehicles like cars, buses and trucks are expected to be driverless in the future because of the rapid advancement in technology. As there will be no drivers for such vehicles, so only passengers would be sitting inside these vehicles. I believe it would have many positive aspects but still the drawbacks outweigh them.

One the one hand, driverless vehicles can be very beneficial for people as it would allow them to travel for long distances without actually driving the car. The car will be in auto mode, so citizens would not need to tire themselves out by driving cars. It will be very helpful for people who cannot drive themselves due to lack of experience or injuries. For instance, a person who wants to travel in a car but has no experience can go anywhere using such vehicles. As a result, driverless vehicles would make lives of such people very convenient and comfortable.

On the other hand, driverless vehicles can result in taking over many jobs and can cause road accidents. It can cause some serious road accidents, as one could not rely entirely on the mechanism of the car. The systems in such vehicles tend to have a lot of errors which can put many lives in danger. For example, a vehicle having errors in its sensors cannot detect nearby cars, which can lead to accidents. Driverless vehicles can also tak over many jobs of drivers who usually work for a company or someone, which can result in unemployment.

In conclusion, although driverless vehicle can lead to a more convenient life, it can still put many life in risks and take over many jobs of usual drivers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both advantages and disadvantages, and presents a clear position that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack sufficient extension. For instance, the discussion on job losses and accidents remains somewhat general, relying on repetitive points rather than deep elaboration with concrete real-world data or varied perspectives. To move to a higher band, the writer needs to provide more fully developed explanations and extend each main idea with richer support and clearer examples, avoiding repetitive statements across the body paragraphs and conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, separate body paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes. However, cohesion at times feels a bit mechanical or repetitive, particularly in how sentences are linked. Phrases like 'One the one hand' (which contains a minor typo) and 'On the other hand' establish the structure, but internal referencing and transitions between sentences can occasionally be awkward, such as the redundant phrasing in 'vehicles like cars, buses and trucks... inside these vehicles'. Achieving a higher band requires more flexible and natural use of cohesive devices, alongside smoother progression of ideas within paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'rapid advancement', 'convenient and comfortable', and 'unemployment'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word forms. Examples include typographical errors and awkward phrasing like 'One the one hand', spelling and pluralisation issues such as 'many life in risks', and repetitive use of basic terms like 'vehicles', 'people', and 'errors'. To reach the next level, the student should expand their control of less common lexical items, refine collocations, and eliminate basic word-form errors to ensure greater precision and naturalness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at conditional and result clauses such as 'As there will be no drivers for such vehicles, so only passengers would be sitting'. However, frequent errors in grammar and punctuation are present, including faulty subordinate clause structures ('As there... so...'), article omissions, and agreement issues like 'driverless vehicle can lead' and 'put many life in risks'. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they restrict the grammar to a limited and error-prone range. To improve, the writer must focus on sentence structure accuracy, correct pluralisation, and mastering complex grammatical patterns without recurring mechanical mistakes.

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

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