Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-26

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 the contemporary world, a growing number of individuals are choosing to reduce their air travel or discontinue flying altogether. Although this trend presents notable logistical disadvantages for both individual commuters and multinational businesses, I firmly believe that the environmental benefits specifically the reduction of carbon emissions and the conservation of fossil fuels greatly outweigh these drawbacks.

There are several benefits of this development the first and foremost advantage is that it can save fuel, since individuals reduce the travel by flight. This is primarily because using airplane for covering distance consumes huge amount of fuel; therefore, it can create a shortage of fossil fuels. So, reducing flying can save a large amount of fuel, which can be beneficial. For instance, in recent times in the USA a number of wealthy businessman terminate using private jets and flying to save aviation fuel, which is used for travelling in airplane.

Furthermore, another pro of this development is that mitigating travelling through airplane reduces carbon emissions as it spreads air pollution while taking off, which will be reduced. Moreover, as the number of flights in use for international travel is increasing, which spreads carbon emission in the air and pollute the atmosphere. This polluted air will consumed by the humans and it is extremely detrimental for health. Not only does it affect our breathing, but it also has a serious impact on the lungs, which can be harmful for individuals, as it reduces life expectancy. Consequently, these problems can be mitigated by avoiding yearly flights and increase the life expectancy.

Despite these advantages one drawback is that reducing flight as a transport will not be efficient as airplanes are the fastest means of transport. This is because taking other transits systems such as buses, taxis and trains, which are efficient; nevertheless, it will take huge time to reach the destination. However, the government is establishing bullet trains and metro systems, which are fast and convenient for travelling.

In conclusion, although avoiding flights can be not efficient, I believe that the benefits of this development outweigh the disadvantages. Not only it reduces carbon emission and air pollution but also it save a huge amount of fuel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, clearly stating a position that the environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages. The ideas are relevant, though the development is somewhat repetitive. For instance, the argument regarding fuel consumption in the second paragraph is circular, and the discussion on health impacts in the third paragraph is slightly tangential to the core environmental argument. While the position is clear throughout, the supporting arguments could be more sophisticated and better linked to the specific trade-offs between individual convenience and global environmental impact. Overall, the response meets the requirements of the task but lacks depth in its analysis.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive. For example, the transition 'Furthermore, another pro of this development is that...' is a bit clunky. There are also instances where sentences are poorly linked, such as the abrupt transition in the second paragraph: 'So, reducing flying can save a large amount of fuel, which can be beneficial.' The referencing is generally clear, but the flow between ideas could be improved to ensure a more natural progression of arguments.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. The student relies on basic terms like 'huge amount', 'pro', and 'good/bad' structures. There are some inaccuracies in collocation, such as 'mitigating travelling' and 'terminate using private jets'. While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and the student struggles to use less common lexical items effectively. To reach a higher band, the student should focus on using more academic collocations and precise terminology related to environmental issues and transportation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('it save a huge amount'), article usage ('using airplane'), and awkward phrasing ('This polluted air will consumed by the humans'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with several run-on sentences and missing commas. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to distract the reader and indicate a lack of control over complex structures. More attention to basic grammar rules and sentence boundary punctuation is required.

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