Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-07-31

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 6.5)

In recent times, air travellers have started to prefer flying less often or to stop flying altogether. However, there is no doubt that aviation is considered to be one of the busiest businesses across the globe, to date, due to its importance to many tourists, businesses, and individuals across all professions. In addition, commercial airlines have only been able to make a profit in the industry due to its extensive demand.

However, due to the recent awareness among travellers on huge carbon emissions by the aviation industry and its adverse impact on the environment, many prefer to travel less by air. Even though many environmental activists have called out celebrities for travelling for concerts and meaningless world tours in private jets that have a huge impact on carbon emissions, exceeding the limit on the carbon footprint an individual should ideally make.

On the contrary, in light of the recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, some of their air spaces have been temporarily suspended by the respective governing administrations. Although such situations force airlines to choose inefficient and longer air routes, this results in higher travel fares and a financial burden on passengers. Therefore, many tourists prefer to avoid inconvenient travel with multiple layovers and higher fares. In addition, business too get hit as their profits get squeezed while importing time-critical commodities by air at a higher price.

Therefore, I believe that environmental gains do not outweigh the disadvantages that many individuals and businesses have to pay the price for.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the environmental benefits and the disadvantages for individuals and businesses. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention the carbon footprint and geopolitical tensions, the connection between these points and the core question—whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages—is not fully explored. The conclusion states your position, but the arguments leading to it are brief and lack depth. To improve, ensure each body paragraph provides a more detailed explanation and specific examples to support your stance, rather than just stating the points.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear focus. You use cohesive devices such as 'However,' 'In addition,' and 'On the contrary' to link ideas. While the progression is generally clear, some transitions feel a bit mechanical. The referencing is mostly accurate, though the flow between the environmental argument and the economic argument could be smoother. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the overall structure helps the reader follow your argument, even if the depth of the content is somewhat restricted.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'geopolitical tensions,' 'carbon emissions,' and 'time-critical commodities.' There are some minor issues with collocation and word choice, such as 'busiest businesses' (which is slightly redundant) and 'business too get hit' (should be 'businesses'). You attempt to use more sophisticated language, which is positive, but ensure that these terms are used in the most natural way possible. Expanding your range of topic-specific collocations will help you reach a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While many sentences are clear, there are some grammatical slips, such as 'business too get hit' (subject-verb agreement) and the phrasing 'exceeding the limit on the carbon footprint an individual should ideally make' is a bit clunky. Punctuation is generally handled well, and your meaning is consistently clear. To improve, focus on refining complex sentence structures and ensuring consistent subject-verb agreement throughout the text.

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