Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-09

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 recent years, the issue of driverless vehicles has attracted considerable public and academic attention. While some people contend that all vehicles will be driverless for our future generation has a positive impact on society, others maintain that this can affect them negatively. This essay will examine both perspectives before presenting my own view.

On the one hand, critics of driverless vehicles frequently point out a number of significant drawbacks. A major reason for this is that it will reduce job opportunities for many drivers, resulting in unemployment among individuals as well as youths, who are going to become the bright future of our nation. For example, recent research has shown that millions of jobs in trucking, delivery, and taxi services may face potential disruptions due to automation. Furthermore, it will increase financial burden on people due to its high repair and purchase costs, which makes this approach less sustainable in the long run.

On the other hand, proponents of driverless vehicles emphasize a number of notable benefits. This is primarly because they may reduce road accidents as human errors like drunk can be easily detected through sensors, which in turn leads to make travelling more comfortable. Consequently, unlike human drivers, these vehicles do not become tired or distracted while driving. For instance, better traffic flow can clearly illustrating how driverless vehicles can positively influence both society and future generation.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You discuss disadvantages such as job losses and higher purchase and repair costs, and benefits including fewer accidents and less driver fatigue. However, the task asks you to decide whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and your position is not stated clearly: the introduction promises “my own view,” but the essay ends without giving it. The benefits are also less fully explained; for example, “better traffic flow” is mentioned but not developed with a clear explanation or example. The response contains 230 words, so it does not meet the required minimum of 250. To strengthen the response, state your judgement explicitly and support both sides with more specific reasoning and relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction followed by a paragraph on disadvantages and one on advantages. “On the one hand” and “On the other hand” help signal the contrast, and examples are placed within the relevant paragraphs. However, the overall progression is incomplete because there is no concluding paragraph to summarise the comparison or confirm your position. Some links between ideas are also awkward: “Consequently” does not clearly show how the previous point leads to the claim about fatigue, while the final example is not fully connected to the preceding explanation. Add a conclusion and use linking expressions only when the relationship between ideas is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic-related vocabulary, including “driverless vehicles,” “automation,” “unemployment,” “sensors,” and “traffic flow.” Phrases such as “considerable public and academic attention” and “financial burden” show an attempt to use more formal language. Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “for our future generation has a positive impact” is difficult to interpret, “human errors like drunk” is incomplete, and “primarly” is misspelled. “Bright future of our nation” also sounds overly general and does not add precise meaning to the argument. Aim for clearer, more natural collocations and check spelling; this will make your ideas easier to understand without needing more complicated vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a concession in the introduction and clauses beginning with “which” and “who.” Most of the meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “all vehicles will be driverless for our future generation has a positive impact” combines clauses without a clear grammatical connection, and “which in turn leads to make travelling more comfortable” has an incorrect verb pattern. In “better traffic flow can clearly illustrating,” the modal “can” should be followed by the base form of the verb. Practise building complex sentences with clear clause boundaries and check verb forms after modal verbs and expressions such as “lead to.”

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