Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-22

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)

It has been decided by some people that they should reduce the number of flights they take in a year or stop taking flights completely. I believe that this development is better not only for individuals but also for humanity as well because taking less flights reduces pollution as well as risk of an accident.

In recent times, there is an increasing number of flight accidents all over the world because of an increment in number of people taking flights. It becomes nearly an impossible task to maintain and manage this high number of people taking flights. A single accident causes enormous damages including the loss of lives and destroying the accident site completely. Last year, there was a heartbreaking plane crash in the Ahmedabad city leading to death of almost 500 people. The plane had some issues which caused it to land just after 10 minutes of the takeoff. The aircraft carrying 18 tones of fuel crashed into a hostel of medical students reducing the hostel to black ash in few seconds.

In addition to risk of plane crash, another disadvantage of taking flights is pollution. All the aircrafts operates on energy whose only source is fossil fuels. Each flight requires tones of fossil fuels to operate, resulting is release of harmful carbon based gases like carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide directly into air. Some of these are greenhouse gases which directly contributes into an increase in global warming. It is needless to say that global warming is one of the biggest issue on our planet Earth. It causes many unwanted phenomena like melting of glaciers, increased overall temperature of earth and untimely rain.

Therefore, it can be said that people who avoid taking flights as much as possible are right because each flight is associated with it's own risk of plane crash and taking more flights causes damage to environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt but lacks balance. While you argue that the environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages, you fail to adequately address the 'disadvantages for individuals and businesses' as requested by the prompt. The essay focuses almost exclusively on the environmental benefits and safety risks. To achieve a higher band, you must explicitly discuss the negative impacts of reduced flying, such as the economic consequences for the tourism industry or the loss of personal freedom for global travel. The position is clear, but the development of ideas is one-sided, which limits the depth of the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, each with a clear central topic. You use some cohesive devices like 'In addition to' and 'Therefore' to link ideas. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. For example, the transition between the introduction and the body paragraphs could be smoother. The use of cohesive devices is adequate but lacks the flexibility required for higher bands. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph flows naturally into the next will enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'greenhouse gases', 'global warming', and 'phenomena'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'increment in number' (should be 'increase in the number') and '18 tones of fuel' (should be 'tons'). Additionally, some phrasing is slightly unnatural, such as 'reducing the hostel to black ash'. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure that your word choices are contextually appropriate. Expanding your vocabulary to include more sophisticated synonyms will help elevate your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('All the aircrafts operates' should be 'All aircraft operate'), article usage ('into air' should be 'into the air'), and punctuation errors (e.g., 'it's' used as a possessive instead of 'its'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To reach a higher band, you need to demonstrate better control over complex structures and reduce the frequency of basic grammatical slips.

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

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