Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-14

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, usage of the planes had surged as it is fascinating mode of transport and saves the time as well. Even if people decided to stop travelling by the air drawbacks will overshadow its positive effect on the environment.

Commencing with the negative aspect, nowadays to earn more profit it is very important to spread the businesses worldwide. Global trends can provide a way for the monetary gain and for this travelling to abroad became an unavoidable step. If they decide not to travel using airways, it may become the main reason for their losses. For instance, there is the meeting with china's client so indian businessman has to travel to china to sign a deal with transparency.

Turning to the positive side, use of the planes or the helicopters can be the main source of the air pollution. The long distance journeys produces tones of smoke which is at the top of the list of the air pollutants. Sometimes people don't understand the seriousness of the risk to the earth's ecosystem and they chose flights over conventional transport just for the fun. To exemplify, even at the domestic level planes produce serious amount of the smoke, so we can't imagine the level of danger to nature cause by the international flights.

In conclusion, despite having environmental concerns regarding the travel that uses the airways, their benefits to people in the terms of their progress in work are way more significant . People should understand the priviledge of having travel ob planes rather than exploitingit.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear answer to the question: the disadvantages of reducing air travel outweigh the environmental benefits, mainly because flying supports business expansion. The response also recognises the environmental case, noting that aircraft produce pollution. However, the discussion addresses the two sides unevenly. The business example about an Indian businessman meeting a Chinese client is relevant, but it does not explain why alternatives such as online meetings or other transport would be inadequate. The environmental paragraph identifies pollution but offers little comparison of its scale with the economic and personal costs. To strengthen the response, develop both sides with specific reasoning and address individuals as well as businesses, since the question asks about both.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction states your position, separate paragraphs discuss disadvantages and benefits, and a conclusion restates your view. Signposting such as “Commencing with the negative aspect” and “Turning to the positive side” helps readers follow the shift in focus. Overall, the ideas are arranged coherently, but some links are mechanical or unclear. For example, “For instance” introduces a business meeting, yet the connection between that example and the claim about losses could be explained more explicitly. The conclusion also moves abruptly from environmental concerns to work progress. Use clearer links between claims, evidence, and your final comparison, and make references such as “their benefits” more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a range of topic-related vocabulary, including “global trends,” “monetary gain,” “air pollution,” and “ecosystem,” which allows you to discuss business and environmental effects. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, sometimes making the meaning less clear: “usage of the planes,” “travel to abroad,” “tones of smoke,” and “priviledge of having travel on planes.” Spelling errors such as “priviledge” and the joined form “exploitingit” also reduce accuracy. Aim for natural combinations and check word forms and spelling. For example, “air travel” and “large quantities of emissions” would express your ideas more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures such as “If they decide not to travel using airways, it may become the main reason for their losses.” This gives the response some variety, and the main ideas are generally understandable. However, there are several errors in articles, agreement, plurals, and sentence construction. For example, “it is fascinating mode” needs an article, “The long distance journeys produces” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “the risk to the earth's ecosystem” is awkwardly constructed. The opening sentence also joins ideas in a way that makes the relationship unclear. Review article use and agreement, and proofread each sentence for a clear subject and verb. More accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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