Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-01

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 6.5)

Some people have chosen to reduce the amount of flights that they have every year or to stop flying altogether. I do not believe that the environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses.

Environmental effects of aviation are often narrowed down to air pollution caused by the travel of planes. However, while there is truth to the recorded amounts of air pollution, air travel in itself is extremely necessary for the global chains of travel and transport. Individuals that have the noble goal in mind tend to forget how important this is. Even if they reduce the total number of times that they fly every year or to even stop flying at all, the crux of the problem is not fixed. Every business is tied to the global travel network, which in itself is a chain of routes. A lot of these routes are done by airplanes especially the ones for the delivering of goods and people. Hampering of any of links would be catastrophic for any business. Furthermore, people beside leisure also travel by air for emergencies and relief tasks. Disavowing the air travel for environmental concerns in many possible cases can be extremely dangerous as well.

Another issue is also how would you quantify how much harm environmentally you do when you decide to reduce the number of flights or to stop flying at all. I think this is shifting away from the fact that people may decide to change their use of air travel but will still use transport that affects the environment such as cars or boats. It is not consistent to pick one over the other if the real concern is about the environment. Quitting to use any of them is not the full solution to the symptom either as mentioned before. If we wish to keep the positive facets of the modern life but in the same time to be environmentally conscious, what we must do instead is to help our local communities with environmental efforts and to increase the attention for these causes by discussion and raising the issues politically.

I believe that on individual level the environmental benefits are meagre at best and do not outweigh the disadvantages that businesses and individuals face when reducing the amounts of flights that they have. Modern age requires global transport across large distances and shifting the blame to the transport does not help with actually finding ways to help with the conservation of the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You present a clear position throughout the essay and address all parts of the prompt by discussing the environmental benefits versus the disadvantages for individuals and businesses. Your main ideas are extended and supported with relevant reasoning, such as the reliance of global supply chains and emergency services on air travel. However, some ideas show a tendency to over-generalise and could be more fully developed with specific examples. For instance, your argument about people shifting to cars or boats is introduced but not fully expanded to demonstrate the exact scale of the environmental impact compared to flying. To reach a higher level, you would need to extend your supporting arguments with greater depth and more precise real-world examples.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical organisation throughout. You successfully maintain a central topic across your body paragraphs, discussing supply chains and emergency travel first, and then addressing the difficulty of quantifying harm and alternative transport methods. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct main points. However, cohesion at times feels slightly mechanical or faulty, such as the transitional phrase 'Another issue is also how would you quantify...', which lacks smooth integration. Referencing can occasionally be slightly unclear, such as the pronoun reference in 'Quitting to use any of them'. To improve further, you should aim for more flexible and seamless linking devices that guide the reader effortlessly through your arguments.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task and successfully attempt some less common items such as 'catastrophic', 'disavowing', and 'environmentally conscious'. There is a sufficient range to allow some flexibility and precision in expressing your ideas about global transport networks. However, there are occasional inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing, such as writing 'the amount of flights' instead of 'the number of flights', using 'done by airplanes' instead of 'operated by aircraft', and the awkward phrase 'Quitting to use any of them'. To achieve a higher score, you should focus on more natural collocations and refine your use of less common vocabulary to avoid minor lexical slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating various subordinate clauses and conditional structures, such as 'Even if they reduce the total number of times that they fly every year...'. There is good control over punctuation and sentence construction overall. However, there are some persistent grammatical errors, particularly with article usage and prepositions, such as 'on individual level' instead of 'on an individual level', 'for the delivering of goods' instead of 'for delivering goods', and the clunky phrasing 'in the same time' instead of 'at the same time'. These errors are characteristic of a solid command where minor mistakes persist without impeding communication. To reach the next level, you should aim for a higher frequency of error-free complex sentences.

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