Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-12

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)

In recent years, number of individuals have decided to change their prefrences of transportaion and decided to take an initiative to reduce the number of flys they take in a year alone and also going to avoid flying altogether. This kind of activities will help in many environmental benifits like decrease in carbon, help to protect places for greenery which is used for airport but it will also create many disadvantages. I believe that the disadvantages of this will lead more losses than the benifites.

The major impact of this will lead to increase the cost of the other transpotaions such as trains , metros, buses, ships which will work as an alternative for long trips and create a problem for middle class people who will not able to affort it. it creat many enviromental problems like increase in air pollution, rise in fule prices and creat less alternatives for them for instance, it also will affect the goverment plans which is already in process for example many new airports are in work and due to less use it will create financial losses that will lead in rise in taxation policies.

Another major impact will be on employment because it will creat dependance for example, businessman will only deal limited international meeting which will affect some special works categories like clothes, dimands products which can not be identified on video calls which will imapct the persons income and directly effect the economy of the country, it will also rise the ratio of unemployment.

In conclusion, it will create many disadvantages because the advantages are limited to help in reduce to environment pollution but will impact in many factors such as tourism, employment, education and economical losses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you believe the disadvantages of reducing air travel outweigh the environmental benefits. You address both sides by mentioning lower carbon emissions and protected green spaces, then discussing transport costs, airport investment, employment, tourism and education. These are relevant areas, but some points are under-developed or unclear. For example, the claim that fewer flights will increase pollution and fuel prices needs an explanation of how this would happen, and the link between reduced business travel and particular products is difficult to follow. To strengthen the response, explain the causal links and support your main points with a specific example, while making the comparison with environmental gains more explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs present disadvantages, and a conclusion restates your position. This gives the reader an overall route through the argument. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several consequences are joined together without clear explanation. In the first body paragraph, transport costs, pollution, airport projects and taxation appear in quick succession, and the relationship between them is not always clear. Linking phrases such as “for instance” and “another major impact” help, but some connections feel mechanical or do not introduce a clear example. Organise each paragraph around one main claim, then explain and illustrate it before moving to the next point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “carbon,” “international meeting,” “financial losses,” “taxation policies” and “unemployment.” This shows some ability to discuss environmental and economic effects. However, spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural word combinations are noticeable and sometimes make the reader pause. Examples include “prefrences of transportaion,” “number of flys,” “affort it,” and “rise in fule prices.” Some phrases, such as “help to protect places for greenery” and “create dependance,” do not express the intended meaning naturally. Build accuracy by checking spelling and learning common collocations, such as “reduce carbon emissions,” “afford alternative transport” and “depend on air travel.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple statements and attempts at longer, connected sentences, and your main position is generally understandable. However, errors in sentence structure and grammatical forms recur, particularly in longer sentences. For example, “The major impact of this will lead to increase the cost” has an unclear construction, while “middle class people who will not able to affort it” is missing a verb form. There are also problems with articles, agreement and sentence boundaries, as in “it creat many environmental problems” and the long sentence beginning “Another major impact will be on employment.” Aim to make each sentence express one complete idea, and check verb forms, articles and subject–verb agreement when editing.

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