Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-22

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)

With advant of technology it has become easier for human kind to travel and explore the world to gain more knoweldge and understanding of different cultures. Some individuals try to reduce their carbon print by reducing flying or no flying at all. From my perspective it has more bigger impact on saving enviornment than one's personal benefit.

Firstly, with numerous flights over the world has depleted the ozone layers from various regions and has put vast number of bird in to endangered list. Reduced travelling via planes will give the sky back to birds once again and more cleaner air to breathe for humans. Some celebrities choose to fly privetaly just for their fun and to avoid general public which has more emmission of the gases rather than 200 to 300 people travelling in same plane.

Secondly, with the availabilty of internet and virtual reality people can experience new palces more frequently and much cheaper than physically going there, with this approach mountain peaks can be kept cleaner and ocean depths will be preserved from human engagement. Furthermore, to avoid the distaster happening from global warmimg for instance frequent floods and rising water levels,it is a necessary step to take towards saving the future of all living beings on the earth.

Coversely, to attain certain attributes some people have to travel and it can not fully eradicated from the timeline. Numbers of the private jets can be reduced and still people will be able to travel with lesser harm to mother nature.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the environmental benefits and the disadvantages of reducing air travel. You take a clear position in the introduction, stating that the environmental benefits outweigh the personal disadvantages. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and relies on sweeping generalisations, such as claiming that reduced travel will 'give the sky back to birds' and 'cleaner air'. The counterargument regarding the necessity of travel is briefly touched upon in the final paragraph ('to attain certain attributes some people have to travel'), but it is under-developed and lacks specific examples. Consequently, this performance aligns best with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a logical overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion. Paragraphing is used to separate main ideas, with body paragraphs introduced by cohesive markers such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Conversely'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For instance, the transition between sentences within paragraphs can feel disjointed, and pronouns like 'it' in 'From my perspective it has more bigger impact' lack a precise antecedent. Additionally, logical progression is occasionally hindered by abrupt shifts in topic, such as moving from ozone depletion to celebrities flying privately within the same paragraph. These features place the response firmly in Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student attempts a range of vocabulary, including subject-specific terms such as 'carbon print' (carbon footprint), 'ozone layers', and 'global warmimg'. However, there are numerous noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, including 'advant' instead of advent, 'knoweldge', 'enviornment', 'privetaly', 'emmission', 'palces', and 'distaster'. While the vocabulary used is adequate to convey the general message, these errors and awkward collocations like 'more bigger impact' restrict the lexical score. The range of vocabulary is sufficient for the task but lacks the precision and control required for a higher band, making Band 5.0 appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional and relative clauses ('Some celebrities choose to fly privetaly just for their fun... which has more emmission'). However, there is a high frequency of grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text, including missing prepositions ('in to endangered list'), incorrect article usage ('in same plane'), and run-on sentences with comma splices ('rising water levels,it is a necessary step'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to detract from the overall clarity and prevent the essay from reaching Band 6. Therefore, a Band 5.0 is awarded.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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