Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-16
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)
It is true that a huge number of people are flying and moving from one place to another due to some reasons. We can't say that this number will be reduced in order to protect the environment. The environmental benefits by reducing the number of people from flying cannot outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and business.
There are certain reasons that describe the more disadvantages for individuals and businesses when they dont move enough. People migrate from one place to another in order to get education, economic activities and for business activities. When they restrict their activities, they face a huge loss in business activities and as well as in industrial processes. For instance, millions of people fly to expand their trading activities and to get financial benefits. If people try to reduce their movement due to environmental aspects they will suffer from a big loss rather than environmental benefits.
There is an alternate of protecting the environment, people should use electric vehicles rather than using of petrol or other kinds of fossil fuels. For instance, Germany has shifted its transport system from fossil fuels to electric transport and the germans are not restricting their movement , they are just modernizing their system in order to get maximum environmental benefits as well as business advantages.
In a nutshell, I do not prefer the environmental benefits will outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses as when people do not move they face a huge loss in their business and trade activities rather than more environmental benefits.
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 response addresses the prompt by discussing whether the environmental benefits of flying less outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses, taking a clear stance. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. For instance, the argument regarding business and education is introduced, but it relies on generalized assertions rather than fully extended examples. The mention of alternative solutions, such as electric vehicles in Germany, is relevant but shifts the focus slightly away from the specific trade-off between reducing flights and its socioeconomic impacts. Overall, it addresses the prompt adequately to satisfy Band 6 criteria.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance stated in the introduction and reiterated in the conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct ideas, such as the disadvantages to businesses in the second paragraph and the alternative solution in the third. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. Phrases like 'There are certain reasons that describe the more disadvantages' and 'There is an alternate of protecting the environment' feel awkward and repetitive. Referencing and logical transitions between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey their core message about economic impacts and environmental protection. However, the range is limited and features noticeable inaccuracies in collocation and word choice. Examples include 'reduce the number of people from flying' instead of 'reduce the number of flights', 'dont move enough', and 'There is an alternate of protecting' instead of 'An alternative to protecting'. These errors and the reliance on basic terminology restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability with conditional structures, as seen in 'If people try to reduce their movement... they will suffer'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with preposition usage ('from flying' instead of 'flying', 'alternate of protecting'), missing apostrophes ('dont', 'germans'), and awkward phrasing. While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, they persist throughout the text, placing the essay firmly in the Band 5.5 range.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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