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)

Vacation is the time in which most people like to travel different countries to explore other's culture and food. The mode of transportations that are available for travelers are airplanes, buses, car and ships. Airplane is the most preferred transportation when it comes to traveling different countries. People have decided to reduce their number of times they fly to save reduce environmental issues. In my opinion it is a good initiative but the disadvantages have more outweigh.

The reduction in tourism would impact economic growth of countries. There are a lot of countries and their main source of income comes from tourism such as Indonesia, Maldives and many more. These countries might face a decline in their GDP and it would negatively impact their citizen because government would not have enough resources to bulid projects which could attarct the tourist.

Secondly, I think traveling less would limit the opportunity of meting new culture and people of different countries. Tourism helps people to understand and know more about different culture and their food. You also get to know more about different religion and might end up clearing all the myths. Traveling is also important for mental health. Studies have shown that people who travels more are likely to have more good mental health as compared with visiting occasionaly. It keeps your physical and mental health in good condition and saves you from mental conditions like depreddion, bipolar and etc.

I believe that there are environmental benefits such reduction in air pollution and land pollution. But it can be controlled if government enforce strict rules and give penalities to those destroying natural habitat.

Overall, I believe that reduction in number of times people fly has more disadvanatges as compared with the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that reducing flights has more disadvantages, and you include relevant points about tourism-dependent economies, cultural exchange, and possible environmental gains. This addresses the question, but the comparison is only partly developed: the environmental benefits are mentioned briefly, while the disadvantages receive more explanation. The claim that governments can control pollution through stricter rules does not explain why this would be as effective as reducing flights. Some support is also unclear or over-generalised, such as the reference to studies linking frequent travel with better mental health. To strengthen the response, explain the effects on businesses as well as countries, and compare the scale and importance of these effects directly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, two paragraphs presenting disadvantages, a paragraph acknowledging environmental benefits, and a conclusion. Sequencing words such as “Secondly,” “But,” and “Overall” help signal the direction of the argument. However, progression is somewhat repetitive: the second body paragraph combines cultural understanding, religion, and mental health without clearly connecting these points, while the environmental paragraph is very brief. Some links are mechanical or unclear, and “But” does not establish a precise contrast with the preceding discussion. Group related ideas into focused paragraphs and use clearer references and transitions to show how each point supports your overall comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “economic growth,” “GDP,” “tourism,” “air pollution,” and “natural habitat.” There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “decline in their GDP” and “mental health.” However, the range is limited by repeated general words such as “people,” “traveling,” and “more,” and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate. Examples include “save reduce environmental issues,” “meting new culture,” and “more good mental health.” Spelling errors such as “bulid,” “att arct,” and “occasionaly” also reduce accuracy. Build a wider set of precise phrases for environmental impacts and business consequences, and check spelling and natural word combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “because,” “when,” and “who,” and the main argument is generally understandable. However, control is inconsistent, and several sentence patterns contain errors. For example, “The mode of transportations that are available … are airplanes” has problems with agreement and sentence construction; “people who travels more” has subject–verb disagreement; and “if government enforce” needs a plural subject or an article and a correctly matched verb. There are also errors in articles, plurals, and verb forms, as in “different culture” and “people who travels.” Practise checking agreement and noun forms, and revise longer sentences so that each clause has a clear, accurate structure.

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