Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-17

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 6.0)

some people believe that decreasing the frequency of their annual flight journeys or completely abandoning air travel is beneficial for the environment. This essay will discuss whether the pros of this development are greater than its corns. In my opinion, the benefits of air transport are much greater than environmental benefits and flying by planes should not be completely avoided.

There are many advantages of avoiding air travel. Firstly, carbon emssions through fossil fuels will decrease largely. This will lead to reduced global average temperature. As a result the adverse effects of global warming on environment can be reduced. For example, if most people travel by electric trains or buses instead of planes, carbon footprint of transport industry will plummet which will lead to a better world and ecosystem.

However, Air travel has irreplacable pros in the modern world and its role in global supply chain cannot be ignored. Firstly, Most of the countries in the world are not connected by bus or trains and the only way to travel between these regions require air travel. Secondly, its the fastest transport method and necessary for emergency situations. For example, the majority of African countries rely on aeroplanes for travel. Also, natural disasters like fires and earthquakes require emergency response through aeroplanes. Besides this, business that rely heavily on air taxies, will be highly affected by this development. For example, courier services like DHL depend on cargo planes for delivering products in a few hours to different countries. Therefore, to decrease environmental effects of air transport, we should develop more sustainable and eco-friendly aerospace technologies instead of abondoning flying by planes.

In conclusion, reducing annual flights brings some benefits to the environment. However, the disadvantages of abondoning it are far greater than the advantages.

In my view, its pros do not outweigh its corns and we should work on more sustainable aircrafts instead of avoiding air travel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the environmental benefits of reducing air travel and the disadvantages for individuals and businesses. A clear position is maintained throughout, stating that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as reference to African nations and courier services like DHL, although some arguments could have been developed with even greater depth to reach a higher band. Overall, the student meets the requirements of Task Achievement well, presenting a balanced overview before firmly concluding their stance, demonstrating strong task fulfillment in line with Band 7 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays clear logical organisation and progression throughout. The introduction successfully outlines the scope of the essay and states the writer's position. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different facets of the argument, with body paragraph one focusing on environmental benefits, and body paragraph two tackling the disadvantages for businesses and travel. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, featuring transitions such as 'Firstly', 'However', and 'In conclusion'. However, some transitions and referencing could be smoother, and minor mechanical errors in cohesion prevent this from reaching a higher band. Overall, the structural flow is coherent and easy to follow, fitting comfortably into Band 6.5 or 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'carbon footprint', 'eco-friendly', and 'aerospace technologies'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, including 'emssions' instead of emissions, 'irreplacable' instead of irreplaceable, 'corns' instead of cons, and 'abondoning' instead of abandoning. These minor lexical and spelling slips occur throughout the text, though they do not impede communication. The use of repetitive vocabulary like 'corns' (likely a confusion with pros and cons) limits the lexical score. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor where vocabulary is adequate but contains spelling and word-choice errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at conditional structures and relative clauses. There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors present. For instance, 'its the fastest transport method' lacks an apostrophe in 'it's', and 'business that rely' should be 'businesses that rely'. Capitalisation errors occur mid-sentence, such as 'Air travel has irreplacable pros'. Despite these frequent minor errors in punctuation and agreement, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded. This balance of mixed structures and persistent errors fits the Band 6 criteria.

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