Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-13
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 recent years, there has been growing concern about whether individuals have decided to reduce the number of times they fly or reduce air travel altogether. From my perspective, the environmental benefits of this development outweigh the disadvantages because air travel reduces the air pollution. Although air travel provides several benefits, includes increase in tourism revenue, it can leads to negative consequences including air pollution and carbon emissions.
On the one hand, some individuals have decided to reduce the number of air travel or to stop flying together. There are several reasons that beneficial for the environment, such as it reduces air pollution. This is because air travel a mojor cause of air pollution which leads to carbon emissions and it can effect human's lives. For instance, in Europens countries, individuals choose high speed trains instead of travel by air, which contributes to reduce carbon emissions. As a result, people can travel by train conveniently and it helps to reduce air pollution which also beneficial for the environment.
On the other hand, there are several benefits of air travel which also related to people and businesses including increase in tourism revenue and easy to access. Air travel helps to increase economy of a country which is only depends on tourism. Although air travel causes air pollution, it also a source of generating revenue of a country. As a result, some airline and tourism related companies lose their revenue.
In conclusion, environmental benefits are greater because the long-term environmental impact affects society as a whole, while most disadvantages can be managed through alternative transport and technology
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the environmental benefits and the disadvantages of reducing air travel for individuals and businesses, establishing a clear position in favour of the environmental benefits. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the argument regarding air pollution is restated across multiple paragraphs without being significantly extended or enriched with deeper analysis. Furthermore, the introduction misinterprets the prompt slightly by framing the phenomenon as a past event ('have decided') rather than a general discussion point. While all parts of the task are addressed, the support remains basic and over-generalised, placing the task achievement performance at a Band 6.0 level according to the official descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a recognisable introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate the opposing views ('On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'). However, cohesion is frequently mechanical and repetitive, relying heavily on transitional phrases like 'As a result' and 'Although' which are sometimes misused. For instance, the sequence 'Although air travel provides several benefits... it can leads to' demonstrates awkward transitional structuring. Additionally, referencing and logical progression occasionally falter, as seen in the second paragraph where sentences circle back on the same point without moving the argument forward smoothly. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 5.5 to 6.0, fitting best at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, touching upon relevant themes such as 'tourism revenue', 'carbon emissions', and 'air pollution'. However, there are noticeable limitations and frequent word-choice or word-formation errors. Examples include 'air travel a mojor cause' (spelling and grammatical omission), 'Europens countries' (spelling), 'easy to access' (inappropriate form for a noun phrase), and 'increase economy' instead of 'boost the economy'. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, these persistent inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band, making Band 5.0 the most appropriate descriptor match.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures with 'although', 'because', and relative clauses. However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent, and frequent errors impede clarity in several places. Examples of errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('it can leads to', 'depends on tourism'), missing articles ('air travel a mojor cause'), and awkward phrasing ('stop flying together' instead of 'altogether'). Although the writer attempts complex sentences, they are often faulty, and errors in basic verb forms occur regularly. This aligns closely with the Band 5.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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