Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-27

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 my opinion, it is a better initiative taken by the people because too much use of transportation increase pollution that harms our society badly. There are both the pos and cons of this initiative.

Firstly I will discuss the benefits of stop flying altogether. It will reduce the pollution that harms our health. As we know that in winters we were facing the problem of smoke. It makes our environment dirty and no one can breath in it because it damages our heath and raised serious health issues such as : increase inhaling , damages our lungs, and many more. It also increased global warming day by day. It has a bad effect on our environment. Government is also doing steps to reduce temperature by spraying water through spray machines.

If I will talk about there drawbacks that faced by business owners. They will face serious problems such as there business losses and many transportation companies are supposed to shut down during this time. Companies can't bear their loses when less people travel and the seats of plan were not fully filled and the company are supposed to pay the bill. They are unable to give salaries to their employees and as a result they terminate their employees. It is also bad for Company reputation. Aircrafts are also in bad condition because they were not used.

In conclusion, It has both advantages and disadvantages. If we used less transportation it is beneficial for our environment and society but as a result it destroys many businesses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both environmental benefits and business disadvantages. However, the development is limited. While you mention health issues and business losses, the ideas lack depth and specific examples. The position is clear, but the conclusion is somewhat repetitive, merely restating the prompt rather than synthesizing the arguments. To improve, you should provide more concrete evidence or logical reasoning for your claims. For instance, instead of just mentioning 'business losses,' you could explain the impact on the tourism industry or global supply chains to demonstrate a more nuanced understanding of the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or repetitive (e.g., 'Firstly,' 'In conclusion'). There are instances where the logical flow is disrupted by awkward phrasing, such as the transition between discussing health issues and government water spraying. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly in the second paragraph where the connection between 'smoke' and 'flying' is not explicitly linked. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You rely on basic terms like 'bad,' 'dirty,' and 'problems.' There are also some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'increase inhaling' and 'terminate their employees' (where 'lay off' would be more appropriate in a business context). To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more academic collocations and precise terminology related to environmental and economic issues, rather than relying on general, informal descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'transportation increase,' 'seats of plan were'), tense inconsistencies (e.g., 'If I will talk about there drawbacks'), and incorrect word forms (e.g., 'there' instead of 'their'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of colons and commas. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for common errors would be beneficial.

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