Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-20
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 5.0)
Air transportation is one of the most expensive and enviromental harming mode of transportation on earth. I strongly believe that reducing the number of times passengers fly every year would helpful in financial and environmental factors.
The most concerning and challenging part, which has now become a trend is to take flights, even for the shorter distences where other mode of transports are easily available for individuals. Flying through plan has now become a status symbol for rich class but everyone forgets that these planes consume more amount of fuel than the other transportation modes. For example, to cover a distance of 500 kilometers a plane requires 700 gallons of fuel. Since, planes are one of the most costly and environmental harming mode of transport.
By reducing the number of time customers fly every year, they will save money as well as they will also save the environment too. Many passengers wil save their presious time as they have to wait for hours to board the flight. By avoiding the flights, they can reduce the carbon emmission and as the carbon emmission reduces they will get fresh air to breath. For instance, in a country of Europe people start using the bus and sharing cab, which resulted into reduction of carbon emmission by 30%. Overall, flights can be avoided sometimes to save environment.
In conclusion, it is benificial to avoid travelling by plane, as it will be good financially and it will also help to save the environment, as human life is heavily dependant upon the environment.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the prompt by discussing the environmental benefits and financial aspects of reducing air travel, taking a clear position that reducing flights is beneficial. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and repetitive. The prompt specifically asks whether the environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses, but the student focuses almost exclusively on the advantages (saving money, reducing emissions) and largely overlooks the disadvantages for businesses and individuals, such as economic impacts on tourism or the necessity of travel for global commerce. While the position is clear, the failure to fully weigh both sides keeps this performance at band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay displays a basic overall arrangement, divided into an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, progression is somewhat impaired by repetitive phrasing and inadequate paragraph focus. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes mechanically or awkwardly, such as repetitive transitions like 'By reducing the number of time...' and 'By avoiding the flights...'. Paragraphing is present, but the body paragraphs tend to circle back to the same points rather than developing a clear linear progression. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical links between sentences can be disjointed. This matches the descriptors for band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The lexical range is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts some topic-related vocabulary such as 'carbon emmission', 'status symbol', and 'financial and environmental factors'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('enviromental', 'distences', 'plan' instead of plane, 'wil', 'presious', 'emmission', 'benificial', 'dependant') and word choice issues. The repetition of basic phrases like 'environmental harming mode of transport' restricts the score. Vocabulary control is insufficient to reach band 6, placing it firmly at band 5.0 due to frequent errors that distract the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'I strongly believe that reducing the number of times passengers fly every year would helpful in financial and environmental factors.' (missing an adjective/verb). Grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, including missing prepositions, incorrect word forms, and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'people start using' instead of started using, 'transportation mode' instead of modes). While meaning is generally recoverable, the frequency of errors in basic and complex structures prevents the text from achieving a band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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