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)
There is an important discussion about some people have reduce the number of times they fly - However, I partly agree with this statement. As far as environmental benefits are considered but we cannot ignore individuals and business associated with flights.
On the one hand people reduce the number of flights it may severely affect individuals. People go by planes for different purposes such as tourism, business and for study - It will greatly affect people's peace of minds and their business purposes. For example a visit to switzerland can help a person to relieve from stress by seeing beautiful nature and also make connections there to establish buisness.
It plays influential role on exploring world . Secondly some people go to other countries for their medical treatment. For instance a patient with cancer can get better treatment in USA, so it can influence people's health -Therefore flights should not be reduce.
On the other hand environmental benefits regarding to pollution and environmental safety should not be ignore. Government should use better quality of fuel and engines. Moreover risk assessments should be done regularly. Furthermore planes plays a crucial role in government economy and trade, so it should not be reduced. Better systems should updated to prevent from detrimental effects on environment. For example government should charge who didn't maintain safety rules. As a result environmental benefits regulate with safety and should not be disregarded.
In conclusion individuals and business shouldn't be overshadowed by environmental benefits . Everything should be manage equally without overlooking one.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the environmental benefits and the disadvantages for individuals and businesses, presenting a partly agreed position. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited and occasionally repetitive. For instance, the discussion around tourism, business, and medical treatment touches on relevant points, but the support lacks depth and extension. The second main body paragraph mixes environmental considerations with economic arguments about government trade, which blurs the line of argumentation. While all parts of the task are addressed, the ideas would benefit from deeper elaboration and sharper focus to meet the higher band descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is generally coherent with an identifiable overall structure, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is attempted, though the logical progression is occasionally hindered by abrupt transitions and punctuation issues, such as the dash used instead of a proper conjunction in the opening sentence ('fly - However'). Cohesive devices like 'On the one hand', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion' are employed, but referencing and linking within sentences can be mechanical or faulty, such as 'For instance a patient with cancer can get better treatment in USA, so it can influence people's health -Therefore flights should not be reduce.' Overall arrangement is coherent, but organizational flaws keep it at a modest level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'detrimental effects', 'risk assessments', and 'influence'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'peace of minds', 'relieve from stress', and 'government economy and trade'. Spelling errors also appear, including 'buisness' and 'manage' instead of 'managed'. While communication is not severely impeded, these lexical errors and limitations prevent the response from achieving a higher band score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. Frequent errors occur, particularly with verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and articles, such as 'some people have reduce', 'flights should not be reduce', 'planes plays', and 'Better systems should updated'. Punctuation is also problematic, with incorrect capitalization after dashes and missing commas in introductory phrases. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, their frequency places the response firmly within the Band 5 descriptor range.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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