Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-29

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)

These days people are thinking to reduce number of times they take flight a year where some people entirely stopping to take flight.In my opinion reducing the number is good to nature but stopping totally is not a better idea.

One of the major advantage of taking flight is it reduce the amount of travel time and a quick way to reach our destination if it is too far to travel by road. Not only it saves time also it can improve revanue of nation. For example to travel from Delhi to Sri lanka it takes almost 34 to 38 hours by other public trasports which i a lot of time but with flight we can reach to Sri lanke in only 5 hours that's almost 15% compaited to other road transports. In addition it can benefit government and our energy saving us from long trips

The major disadvantages are taking flight is good only when the distance is too long to reach by road, some people travel through flights regularly like 4 to 5 timea a month which is a lot, furthermore taking flights for small distance like 5 to 6 hours road trip, if every one follow these kinds of trend it makes a troll on environment and increase in green house gases which is a bad sign to nature and birds, it can benefit authorities but not climate.

In conclution, flying on a minimal number of times is good and also destination which is too long to go by road, so i believe taking flights too often is not good for damage climate, so i think good uses of this development outweigh the advantages for individuals and government

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of reducing or stopping flying, taking a clear position that moderation is better than total cessation. The main ideas are present, but their development is somewhat restricted and repetitive. For instance, the writer mentions that flying saves time and improves national revenue, citing an example from Delhi to Sri Lanka, but the reasoning is slightly muddled and lacks depth. Furthermore, the discussion of disadvantages touches on environmental impacts and greenhouse gases, yet the arguments tend to overgeneralise without fully exploring the counter-perspective on economic impacts for businesses. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, placing this response in Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at a four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, cohesion at the sentence level is frequently faulty and mechanical. The writer relies heavily on basic conjunctions and connective phrases, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final sentence where pronouns and transitions blur the final message. Paragraphing is present, but internal logical progression is disrupted by run-on sentences and punctuation issues, such as missing full stops between distinct thoughts. This level of cohesion and logical flow aligns comfortably with Band 5.5, rounding to Band 6 for general coherence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms such as 'destination', 'greenhouse gases', and 'authorities'. However, there are numerous lexical errors, awkward word choices, and typos throughout the response. Examples include 'revanue' instead of revenue, 'trasports' for transports, 'compaited' for compared, and the phrase 'makes a troll on environment' instead of 'takes a toll on the environment'. Less common lexical items are attempted with recurring inaccuracy, which places the vocabulary performance firmly at a Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting complex clauses with phrases such as 'if it is too far to travel by road' and 'though some people entirely stopping to take flight'. Nevertheless, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and sentence boundaries. Noticeable errors include 'people are thinking to reduce', 'stopping totally is not a better idea', and missing articles throughout. Punctuation is also problematic, with missing periods leading to run-on sentences. These recurring errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader, matching the Band 5 descriptor.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.