Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people have decided to reduce the number of times they fly every year or to stop flying altogether.

Do you think the environmental benefits of this development outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

To protect the environment, some people start to reduce the number of times they fly because according to them the aeroplane fuel produces some harmful gases and pollution which is so dangerous for the enivronment. From my perspective, this decision is beneficial for the environment because it outweighs the disadvantages of this regime.

It is well known that every powerful machine runs on fuel. Aeroplanes run on jet fuel, and they burn so much of it that they release carbon dioxide and other harmful gases in the atmosphere which damage peoples health. If people took fewer number of flights every time they fly, it will have a great impact on the development of environment. Green House gases impact on global warming so this eventually led us to global warming. This will be the best step to taken to reduce the envirnmental hazards.

Well, It also have disadvantages for individual who live abroad or on different country they have to travel from one country to other so they can met their family and loved ones. And it also impact on the business which are running worldwide because they need their products to ships across different country. This side has also some disadvatages for the business men and for thos indoviduals who are living abroad.

Frommy point of view, yes the disadvantages are important to get highlighted but the most greater impact is to make our environemtn great and hazard free because this will be benefecial for us and for the next generation cause it will give the good air to breath.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and you address both environmental effects and costs to individuals and businesses. The discussion of aviation emissions is relevant, while the examples of people travelling to see family and companies moving products identify genuine disadvantages. However, the position is not consistently explained: the opening refers to a “regime,” and the conclusion says the disadvantages matter but does not directly compare their scale with the environmental gains. Several points are asserted rather than developed—for example, the effect of fewer flights is not explained in detail, and the business example focuses on shipping products rather than why businesses need air travel. Develop these comparisons and support them with clearer reasoning.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on environmental benefits, one on disadvantages, and a conclusion. This helps the reader follow the broad direction of the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is limited, and some links between ideas are unclear. For instance, “Green House gases impact on global warming so this eventually led us to global warming” repeats the same point rather than advancing it. The transition “Well” is conversational and does little to connect the disadvantages to the preceding argument, while “From my point of view” repeats the stance without drawing the comparison together. Use clearer topic sentences and connect each claim to its explanation or example; avoid repeating the same conclusion in different words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “jet fuel,” “carbon dioxide,” “global warming,” and “environmental hazards,” so the reader can understand the subject and your main ideas. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “development of environment,” “impact on the business,” and “make our environment great and hazard free.” Spelling errors—including “enivronment,” “envirnmental,” and “disadvatages”—also make the writing less controlled. Some expressions are repeated, particularly “disadvantages” and “environment.” Build a more precise set of phrases for emissions, environmental effects, and business travel, and check spelling and word forms during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a conditional idea in “If people took fewer number of flights…” and a relative clause in “business which are running worldwide.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make some relationships difficult to follow. Examples include “It also have disadvantages,” “they can met their family,” and “this eventually led us,” where agreement or verb forms are incorrect. Sentence boundaries and punctuation also need attention: the opening sentence is long and joins several ideas without clear control. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, past and conditional forms, and shorter sentence construction before adding clauses. Proofread each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb.

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