Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-12
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 today's world, people travel by aeroplan. However, some people have decided to fly less often each year, whereas other thinks that they should stop flying altogether. In my estimation, declining the number of times they fly will affect the business economy, and their time will be taken up more than usual.
On one hand, if we discuss whether people should minimize the number of times they fly each year or stop flying altogether, there will be a lot of environmental benefits. The air will be free from pollution, and some residents really suffer due to the pollution. Air pollution causes respiratory diseases such as the flu, skin and eye allergies, asthma, and other chronic illnesses.
On the other hand, there are crucial reasons to fly every year, and it is very difficult even to minimise it. If members of the workforce stop flying to attend their business meetings, it can affect their jobs and businesses. Moreover, this loss will affect the economy. Additionally, air travel is essential for maintaining close relationships. For instance, those people who live far away from their family or loved ones need to fly to meet them on special occasions and during difficult times. In that case, reducing air travel will be difficult for those individuals.
Taking everything into account, it is vital to fly in this modern world, whereas the general public is going through a disease, there are precautions for them. Nevertheless, a decline in air travel can affect individuals and the economy.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the environmental benefits and the disadvantages for individuals and businesses. A position is stated in the introduction and maintained throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant, though some points, such as the mention of diseases like the flu related to air pollution, could have been expanded or contextualised more rigorously. The response covers the required viewpoints adequately, satisfying the demands of a Band 6.0 performance under Task Achievement. The ideas are developed well enough to communicate the core message clearly, although deeper elaboration on the balance between economic impacts and ecological preservation would elevate the score further.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, the environmental perspective, the counter-arguments regarding businesses and relationships, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed to signal transitions, such as 'On one hand' and 'On the other hand', which helps the reader follow the progression of arguments. However, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and some sentences lack seamless connection, placing the response firmly in the Band 6 category. The conclusion feels slightly abrupt and contains awkward phrasing that disrupts the logical flow at the very end of the piece.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'respiratory diseases', 'chronic illnesses', and 'precautionary'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'declining the number of times' instead of 'reducing the frequency', and referring to aeroplanes simply as 'aeroplan'. Furthermore, the phrase 'the general public is going through a disease' is unnatural. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, reflecting a mix of appropriate terms and noticeable vocabulary limitations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing conditional structures like 'if we discuss whether...' and 'if members of the workforce stop flying...'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('other thinks') and awkward phrasing in the final paragraph. While punctuation is generally manageable, the frequency of grammatical slips and awkward phrasing means that error-free sentences are not in the majority, aligning the output with the Band 5.5 criteria where complex structures are often faulty.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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