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)

For sake of environmental benefits, some individuals have decided to decrease the time periods they fly every year or to eliminate flying altogether which has been a matter of discussion nowadays. However, I strongly disagree that this development outweighs the disadvantages for people and businesses.

First and foremost, communication has become crucial in this technologically advanced world to run the worldwide economy. Flying plays a beneficial role to make it easier. People can now easily move to another country for education, treatment, business and other purposes. This convenient movement has made life more comfortable in all aspects, such as mutual relationships among different countries which helps the countries' economies to thrive. If the flying facilities are reduced in favor of environment, the overall economy and living standards of people will be hampered.

However, flying requires a huge amount of fuel which leads to carbon emissions in the air. This causes air pollution and global warming, and ruins the ozone level of the atmosphere which affect badly on the living creatures of the world by creating greenhouse effects. For instance, air pollution causes 'Asthma' and many other diseases. Furthermore, huge amount of fuel affects on the economy of a country. Nonetheless, using renewable energy can reduce carbon emissions and letting flying amount stay unchanged can lead to economic development.

In conclusion, though environmental awareness has become a major issue in this technological world, reducing number of times people fly or stopping flying together overweighs the disadvantages for individuals and business. Rather environmental benefits can be achieved by other methods like using sustainable or recycling materials as fuel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing both the environmental benefits of reducing flights and the disadvantages for individuals and businesses. A clear position is stated in the introduction ("I strongly disagree that this development outweighs the disadvantages") and maintained throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas in the body paragraphs is somewhat restricted and over-generalized. For example, the point about global warming and health issues is raised in paragraph three, but the counter-argument and conclusion tend to contradict each other slightly regarding the final stance, showing minor lapses in task focus. Overall, the ideas are sufficiently relevant and meet the criteria for Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing economic and environmental aspects, and ending with a conclusion. Cohesive devices are employed, such as "First and foremost", "However", "Furthermore", and "In conclusion". However, some of these devices are used mechanically or slightly inappropriately, such as beginning the third paragraph with "However" when it introduces a new theme rather than a direct contrast to the preceding sentence. Paragraphing is used sufficiently, but referencing and logical progression are occasionally strained. This corresponds to a solid Band 6.0 performance.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as "technologically advanced world", "worldwide economy", and "environmental awareness". However, there are notable lexical errors and awkward collocations that recur throughout the text. Examples include "decrease the time periods they fly" instead of 'reduce the frequency with which they fly', "ruins the ozone level" instead of 'depletes the ozone layer', and "affect badly on" instead of 'adversely affect'. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not impeded, placing the lexical range firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at subordination and relative clauses, such as "some individuals have decided to decrease the time periods they fly every year or to eliminate flying altogether which has been a matter of discussion". There are several grammatical errors and prepositions issues, including "For sake of environmental benefits" instead of 'For the sake of', "letting flying amount stay unchanged", and "overweighs" instead of 'outweighs'. Punctuation is generally acceptable. Because errors occur frequently but rarely impede overall communication, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate.

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