Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

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

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)

Nowadays, technology is developing rapidly, and driverless vehicles are becoming popular. It is predicted that cars, buses and trucks will become automatic without drivers. Although this development could create some problems, I believe that advantages would outweigh the disadvantages.

To begin with, one major advantage of driverless vehicles is safety. This is because human drivers can make mistakes while driving because of stress, tiredness, distraction and careless driving. In contrast, driverless buses are operated using sensors and follow the traffic rules. As a result, human error such as accidents could be reduced. Another major advantage is comfort. Passangers could use travelling time to read books, spend time with family instead concentration on driving. For example, in emergency situations we may voilate the traffic rules which may cause accidents and in India for this type of conditions traffic police collect a little penality.

However, one significant disadvantage is unemployment. This is because, most of the cab or taxi drivers loose their job because companies replace them with automatic vehicles. Sensor operated vehicles can dedect obstracles and prevent accidents. Another is people need to pay more for travelling in these vehicles. Secondly, there could be technical problems or software errors which would effect the passangers sometimes they may go through dangerous conditions.

In conclusion, driverless vehicles cause unemployment and technical errors, but they could provide more comfort and safer transportation. Therefore, I believe that advantages of driverless vehicles outweigh the disadvantages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear answer to the question, stating that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and you discuss safety and comfort alongside unemployment and technical failures. However, the support is uneven: the safety point is explained through human error and sensors, while comfort receives only a brief example. The India traffic-police example is difficult to connect to the benefits of driverless vehicles, and the claim that sensor-operated vehicles prevent accidents appears in the disadvantages paragraph, making your reasoning less clear. The response also falls 11 words short of the required 250-word minimum. Develop each main point with a directly relevant explanation or example, and make the comparison between benefits and drawbacks more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a recognisable introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion, and signposts such as “To begin with,” “However” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the broad structure. However, progression within the body paragraphs is not consistently logical. The traffic-police example interrupts the discussion of comfort, while the sentence about sensors preventing accidents appears after unemployment in the disadvantages paragraph and conflicts with the earlier safety argument. “Another” and “Secondly” also introduce points without clearly showing how they relate. Group each paragraph around one side of the argument, keep supporting examples beside the point they explain, and use clearer references when moving between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “driverless vehicles,” “sensors,” “unemployment,” “technical problems” and “software errors.” There are also attempts at more specific expressions, such as “human error” and “emergency situations.” However, spelling mistakes and imprecise or unnatural combinations are noticeable, including “Passangers,” “voilate,” “penality,” “loose,” “dedect” and “obstracles.” Some wording is also unclear, such as “spend time with family instead concentration on driving.” These errors sometimes make the reader pause, even though the overall message remains understandable. Check spelling carefully and practise natural collocations for describing travel, employment and vehicle technology.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a concession in the introduction (“Although this development could create some problems”) and cause-and-effect structures such as “This is because human drivers can make mistakes.” However, errors occur frequently in sentence construction and can make some relationships difficult to follow. For example, “spend time with family instead concentration on driving” is missing a grammatical form after “instead,” and “which would effect the passangers sometimes they may go through dangerous conditions” joins ideas without a clear sentence boundary. There are also problems with articles and punctuation, as in “because, most of the cab or taxi drivers.” Build accuracy by checking each sentence for a complete clause, correct verb form and clear punctuation.

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