Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-19

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, the environmental impact of air travel has become an increasingly important issue. While some individuals have chosen to reduce or completely stop flying, this development can also create difficulties for individuals and businesses. This essay will examine the environmental benefits of reducing air travel and the disadvantages it may cause before explaining why the environmental benefits outweigh these drawbacks.

One of the main environmental benefits of reducing air travel is that it can significantly lower carbon emissions. This is mainly because aircraft consume large amounts of fossil fuels and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As a result, fewer flights can help reduce air pollution and slow the negative effects of climate change. For example, if people choose trains instead of taking short domestic flights, the amount of fuel consumed and emissions produced can be considerably reduced. Furthermore, reducing air travel can decrease the overall demand for aviation fuel, encouraging more sustainable forms of transportation.

On the other hand, reducing air travel can create several disadvantages for individuals and businesses. One significant drawback is that companies may have fewer opportunities to meet international clients, attend conferences and develop overseas partnerships. This is because some business relationships depend on face-to-face communication. Consequently, businesses that rely heavily on international travel could lose potential customers or investment opportunities. For instance, a company may find it more difficult to negotiate a major overseas contract through online meetings alone. Moreover, fewer flights could negatively affect tourism and related businesses, meaning that hotels, restaurants and travel companies may experience a decline in customers.

To conclude, I concide that it important that reducing air travel can help low usege of fossel fuels and prevent atmosphare while it also reduce the job opperunities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the environmental benefits and the disadvantages of reducing air travel, and clearly states a position. The introduction outlines the plan of the essay, and the body paragraphs present relevant, extended ideas. For example, the writer notes that aircraft consume large fossil fuel quantities and explains how shifting to trains lowers emissions. Similarly, the disadvantages for businesses attempting to negotiate contracts or maintain international partnerships are well supported. However, the conclusion is extremely weak and contains a major mechanical breakdown in meaning ('To conclude, I concide that it important that reducing air travel can help low usege of fossel fuels and prevent atmosphare while it also reduce the job opperunities'), which slightly undermines the final development of the position. Overall, the task is well addressed, earning a Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with distinct introduction, body, and concluding sections. Cohesive devices are employed reasonably well to signal transitions between ideas, such as 'Furthermore', 'On the other hand', and 'Consequently'. However, referencing and cohesion break down significantly in the final paragraph, where the awkward phrasing ('I concide that it important that...') makes the logical connections muddy and disjointed. Despite this poor conclusion, the rest of the essay maintains a coherent arrangement with clear logical links between sentences and paragraphs, supporting a solid Band 6.0 performance.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using topic-specific terms like 'greenhouse gases', 'carbon emissions', 'face-to-face communication', and 'sustainable forms of transportation'. Less common lexical items are attempted, but there are several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, especially towards the end of the text. Examples include 'concide' instead of 'conclude', 'important that' used awkwardly, 'low usege' instead of 'lower usage', 'fossel' instead of 'fossil', 'atmosphare' instead of 'atmosphere', and 'opperunities' instead of 'opportunities'. These errors show that while the vocabulary is generally sufficient for communication, control over less common items and accurate spelling is inconsistent, placing this at a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout the essay, demonstrating some structural variety with relative clauses and conditional structures (e.g., 'This is mainly because aircraft consume large amounts...', 'if people choose trains instead of taking short domestic flights...'). There are good control and accurate structures in the initial and body paragraphs. However, grammatical accuracy drops sharply in the final sentence, which contains multiple serious errors ('I concide that it important that reducing air travel can help low usege of fossel fuels and prevent atmosphare while it also reduce...'). Because errors are concentrated in the conclusion rather than spread evenly to impede overall understanding, the essay meets the criteria for Band 6.0, featuring a mix of error-free clauses and flawed complex attempts.

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