Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-10

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, several individuals have decided to reduce the number of times they fly every year or to stop flying altogether. Although this view has certain drawbacks, I strongly believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses.

One major advantage of this view is maintaining the good health. This is because frequently traveling by airplane from one place to another will disturb the daily routine of an individual, especially when the flight duration consists of long hours or involves connected flights. For example, if a person travels on a frequent basis through flights, then he or she might not eat food on time and may affect the digestion system. This may cause the problems like acidity and loose motion. As a result, avoiding flights may in turn help in maintaining healthy life. Another benefit is lower travel expenses. Nowadays, majority of fights have expensive tickets, which increases the overall travel cost. If a person choose other travel modes, then he or she might save a huge amount of money.

However, there are some drawbacks to consider. A significant disadvantage is increasing travel time. An airplane is the fastest means of transportation. For example, if a person has to attend an urgent meeting in another state or country, then the transportation modes apart from airplane will take a lot of time to reach their destination. Therefore, if a person does not travel by airplane then he or she may have to wait longer hours to reach their designated place.

In conclusion, by reducing the number of times traveling by an airplane or avoiding the flight altogether has a drawback such as longer travel time, it benefits in terms of maintaining good health and lower travel expense are more significant. Therefore, I believe that the advantages of this view clearly outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt but misses the core focus: the environmental benefits. The instructions specifically ask about 'environmental benefits' versus disadvantages for individuals and businesses. You focused almost exclusively on personal health and travel costs, which are not environmental factors. Consequently, the argument is not fully developed in relation to the task requirements. While you maintain a clear position throughout, the lack of focus on the environmental aspect significantly limits the depth of your response. To improve, ensure you directly address the specific themes mentioned in the prompt rather than pivoting to tangential topics like digestion or general travel expenses.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'One major advantage', 'Another benefit', and 'However' to signal transitions between ideas. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the progression of ideas is somewhat mechanical. Some sentences feel repetitive, and the link between the topic sentence and the supporting evidence is occasionally weak. For example, the transition from the health argument to the cost argument is abrupt. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that each paragraph flows more naturally into the next.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on simple, repetitive phrasing such as 'good health', 'travel cost', and 'travel time'. There are some inaccuracies in collocation, such as 'maintaining the good health' (should be 'maintaining good health') and 'the digestion system' (should be 'the digestive system'). While the meaning is always clear, the lack of less common lexical items and the presence of minor errors in word choice limit the score. Incorporating more topic-specific vocabulary related to environmental impact and aviation would enhance your lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'if a person choose' (should be 'chooses'), 'the problems like acidity' (should be 'problems like acidity'), and 'avoiding the flight altogether has a drawback' (the sentence structure here is fragmented). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement and article usage. Practicing more complex sentence structures, such as conditional clauses and relative clauses, while ensuring they are grammatically accurate, will help you progress.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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