Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-25

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)

Bunch of a population have consider to reduce the number of times they fly every 12 months or to totally stop flying altogether.

In recent years, a growing number of people have chosen to limit or entirely eliminate or get totally rid of to air travel in an effort to combat climate change. While this shift imposes economic and personal drawbacks, the environmental benefits of reducing aviated emissions maintain a certain distance from these temporary inconveniences.

Moreover, restricting air travel presents clear challenges for individuals and businesses. For private travellers, flying remains the most efficient, and often the only viable, mode of long-distance transport for visiting family abroad or taking vacations. Reducing flights can lead to longer transit times via ground transport or force people to forgo international travel altogether. For businesses, face to face communication, international networking, and global trade rely heavily on aviation. Limiting corporate travel can slow down international collaboration, disrupt tourism dependent local economies, and increase business operating costs when seeking alternative solutions.

Consequently, reducing overall flight volume is currently the single most effective method to curb aviation pollution. Lowering air traffic directly reduces global carbon footprints, improves air quality near major transport hubs, and helps mitigate severe climate-driven disasters like droughts, floods, and extreme heatwaves.

In conclusion, while reduced air travel requires adjustments in business practices and personal lifestyles of ten offset by modern video meetings band regional travel these individual drawbacks are temporary. Protecting the environment provides essential, long-term stability for global communities, making the ecological advantages which are more valuable.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant and logically developed. For instance, the essay discusses the impact on individuals (travel convenience) and businesses (global collaboration) before contrasting these with the environmental necessity of reducing carbon footprints. While the arguments are well-supported, the development could be slightly more nuanced to reach a higher band; for example, the discussion on business could be expanded with a specific example of how technology is replacing travel. Overall, the position is consistent and the response is well-focused on the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a central theme, moving from the introduction to the drawbacks, then to the environmental benefits, and finally a conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Consequently', and 'In conclusion' are used effectively to guide the reader. However, there are minor issues with sentence-level cohesion, such as the slightly awkward phrasing in the conclusion: '...adjustments in business practices and personal lifestyles of ten offset by modern video meetings band regional travel'. Despite this, the paragraphing is appropriate and the overall structure is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision. Phrases like 'combat climate change', 'mitigate severe climate-driven disasters', and 'global carbon footprints' are used appropriately. There are some instances of awkward phrasing or redundant word choices, such as 'get totally rid of to air travel' and 'aviated emissions', which is not a standard collocation. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more precise word choice and better control over collocations to reach a higher band level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There is a good attempt at complex sentences, such as 'While this shift imposes economic and personal drawbacks, the environmental benefits...'. However, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'Bunch of a population have consider' (should be 'A portion of the population has considered') and 'of ten offset' (likely a typo for 'often'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure in the conclusion is slightly garbled. The majority of sentences are clear, but the frequency of minor errors prevents a higher score.

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

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