Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)
Travelling abroad is one of the significant part of a people's life. The decision of less or not flying at all comes along with certain benefits such as, less emmision of harmful gases whereas it also brings along disbenefits for the individuals and businesses such as, inefficient travel, reduced international connectivity. I think that the benefits are not viable compared to it's disbenefits.
Every year, a huge amount of harmful gases are released due to the combustion process that takes place during a flight. This causes the increased amount of green house gases, rising environmental pollution overall. As a result, if the number of flight were reduced by lesser number of passengers then it will result in a certain level of improvement in the air quality. For example, if some people decides that they will not travel in the plane then the number of scheduled flights will reduce resulting in a level of improvement in the environment.
Again, this step will bring certain disadvantages as well. For example, if an individual decides to not fly at all, this results in longer travel time to go abroad and in some cases, it is not possible to travel to a certain country without taking a flight. Moreover, businesses consisting of international networking will be majorly hampered as business requires frequent flight travels. This eventuallly disrupts the whole system of connectivity and networking.
Hence, although there are certain benefits in reducing the number of flights or not flying at all, but it cannot fully negate the process of environmental pollution. This requires a more sustainable and efficinet solution which may work in long term situations. Therefore, finally it can be concluded that, the benefits of this decision does not outweigh the disadvnatages of individuals and businesses according to my opinion.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
Your position is clear: you believe the disadvantages for individuals and businesses outweigh the environmental benefits. You address both sides and give relevant reasons, including longer journeys, destinations that cannot be reached without flying, and disruption to international business connections. However, the environmental case is less fully explained: you describe emissions and possible air-quality improvement, but do not weigh these benefits against the disadvantages in much detail. The example about fewer passengers causing scheduled flights to be reduced also needs qualification, since fewer people flying would not necessarily lead to fewer flights. Develop the comparison more explicitly—for instance, explain the scale or long-term impact of emissions reduction and why it does or does not outweigh the costs you identify.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs consider benefits and disadvantages, and the conclusion restates your position. This makes the main line of argument easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “For example,” “Moreover,” and “Hence” to signal relationships between ideas. To make the progression more natural and precise, avoid relying on formulaic transitions and ensure each link accurately reflects the logic. For example, “Again” is an awkward way to introduce the disadvantages, while “Hence” introduces a conclusion that partly repeats the previous point. Some references, such as “this step” and “this event,” could be more specific. Clearer links between the comparison and your final judgement would strengthen cohesion.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use some topic-relevant vocabulary, including “combustion,” “greenhouse gases,” “environmental pollution,” and “international connectivity,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “sustainable solution.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “disbenefits,” “inefficient travel,” and “businesses consisting of international networking” do not express the intended ideas naturally. Spelling errors such as “emmision,” “eventuallly,” “efficinet,” and “disadvnatages” also weaken control. Aim for accurate, conventional collocations and check spelling carefully; a smaller range used precisely would make the argument clearer than ambitious but awkward phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures such as “if an individual decides…” and a result clause beginning “whereas.” The overall meaning remains understandable, but some errors in agreement, articles, plurals, and sentence construction reduce accuracy. For example, “one of the significant part” needs a plural noun, and “some people decides” has a subject–verb agreement error. In “the number of flight were reduced,” the noun and verb forms do not agree; “it’s disbenefits” also uses the wrong form of the possessive. The opening sentence and the final sentence contain awkward clause structures. Review agreement and article use, and revise longer sentences to ensure each clause is grammatically complete and clearly connected.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.