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)

People travel to faraway places for multiple personal and professional reasons by air every year . But there is a growing concern about how air travel have detrimental effects on the environment.As a result, in order to address this problem there is a growing increase in decisions such as reducing these visits or ultimately put a stop to them. Even-though it’s a solution to reduce the environmental damage, but this valid argument still offers both positive and negative outcomes.

The most prominent disadvantage would be faced by the international business sectors. Many businesses have clients and employees serving from overseas. If people decide to not travel by air, it shall pose a serious threat to these businesses. It would limit the face to face discussions which are not considered much effective through online meetings. If there is a dispute among international members, then distance problem can give rise to more complicated situations such as growing disharmony and misunderstanding. For instance, a project arrived late may cause distrust but it had not been a greater problem if they could have discussed this formally in person

Although such decisions may lead to many other issues, but these travels have already put a strain on environment through excessive use of natural resouces and emission of dangerous chemicals and smoke. If people restrain themselves from flying. It could reduce carbon emmisions on a great scale. Each plane requires a large quantity of fossil fuel to cover long distances, this put a strain on fossil fuels . For instance, if flight requirements reduces, then fuel and carbon footprint can be considerably decreased to overcome the environmental problems.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the disadvantages for businesses and the environmental benefits of reducing air travel, formulating a clear position. The ideas are generally relevant, though some arguments, such as the example regarding international disputes and project delays, are slightly under-developed and lack specificity. The overall discussion covers the main aspects of the task well, providing a logical viewpoint on the trade-offs involved. While the explanation of environmental benefits is somewhat repetitive, the core response remains on track throughout. Based on these descriptors, the performance aligns well with Band 6.5, leaning towards Band 7 for addressing all parts of the prompt with a clear position, though the depth of idea extension sits comfortably at Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraph divisions separating the introduction, the business disadvantage body paragraph, and the environmental benefit body paragraph. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, the use of transition markers contains redundant linking elements, such as 'Even-though it’s a solution... but this valid argument...' and 'Although such decisions may lead to many other issues, but these travels have already put...', which creates grammatical clutter and awkward sentence connection. Referencing is mostly clear, but the progression within paragraphs occasionally stumbles due to these clunky transitional structures. Therefore, the response fits the Band 6 descriptor well for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'detrimental effects', 'disharmony', 'carbon footprint', and 'fossil fuel'. However, there are notable word-choice and collocation errors, as well as spelling mistakes ('resouces' instead of resources, 'emmisions' instead of emissions). Phrasing can also be awkward or unnatural, such as 'a project arrived late' instead of 'a delayed project' or 'serving from overseas' instead of 'working from overseas'. While these inaccuracies do not impede communication, they restrict the lexical score, placing the response firmly at Band 6 for lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over structure. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('air travel have detrimental effects', 'flight requirements reduces'), punctuation errors, and incorrect clause structures, such as double conjunction use ('Even-though... but' and 'Although... but') and sentence fragments ('If people restrain themselves from flying. It could reduce...'). These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher band. The overall grammatical control aligns with Band 5.5, reflecting a mix of attempted complexity alongside persistent mechanical errors.

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