Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-11

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)

There is a growing trend of people choosing to fly less or stop flying reduce their carbon footprint. While this movement brings environmental advantages, I believe that the negative impact on individuals and businesses are too significant for the benefits to outweigh the drawbacks.

The environmental benefits of reducing air travel are clear. By flying less, individuals can directly reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere, which helps mitigate climate change. For instance, driving a car about one year creates pollution is equal to flying a single trip. For example, during COVID flights are completely closed due to this, climate will be changed.

However, the disadvantages for individuals and businesses are considered. For individuals, flying is often practical way to visit family who live abroad and to experience different cultures. Reducing flights can lead to social isolation and limit personal growth opportunities. For business, the impact is more severe. Many companies such as tourisms, international trade and conferences rely on air travel. If individuals can not attend face-to-face meetings, deals may fall through and even tourists stop flying economies depend on tourist like Maldives or bali, could suffer less jobs. During COVID we saw a huge drop in flights led to massive losses for airlines and related sectors.

In conclusion, although reducing flights has some positive environmental effects, i do not think these benefits outweigh the disadvantages. A better solution will be to invest in airlines, is creates more jobs for individuals and economy growth increased.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both environmental benefits and the disadvantages for individuals and businesses. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. The example regarding COVID-19 is relevant but lacks sufficient detail to fully support the argument. Furthermore, the essay falls slightly short of the 250-word minimum requirement, which impacts the depth of the analysis. While a clear position is maintained throughout, the conclusion introduces a new, underdeveloped suggestion about investing in airlines rather than summarizing the main points effectively. To improve, ensure all arguments are fully expanded with clear, logical explanations and ensure the word count meets the minimum requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'However', 'For instance', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'For example, during COVID flights are completely closed due to this, climate will be changed.' The flow of ideas within paragraphs is generally clear, but the connection between sentences could be smoother to improve the overall progression of the argument. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different aspects of the discussion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'carbon footprint', 'mitigate climate change', and 'social isolation'. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'tourisms' instead of 'the tourism industry' and 'could suffer less jobs' instead of 'could lead to job losses'. The range of vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main points, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede the flow, such as 'driving a car about one year creates pollution is equal to flying a single trip' and 'economies depend on tourist like Maldives or bali, could suffer less jobs'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with capitalization and comma usage. The errors in subject-verb agreement and sentence construction are noticeable throughout the text. Increasing the variety of error-free complex sentences and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy would significantly improve the score.

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.