Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-03

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)

In the contemporary society many individuals believe that reducing or completely stop using airlines to travel can have environmental benefits. Yes the environmental benefits of this development outweigh the disadvantages for individuals ans businesses. This essay will dicsuss the reasons.

On the one hand, if numerous individuals of the society stop using airlines it may be lead to bankruptcy for some airline companies and the comman people will have to travel for more hours by train or a car. Moreover, the companies who supply petroleum fuel to the airplane will have to face huge losses as airplanes need large quantity of fuel to cover long distances approximately 10,000 liters of fuel for 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers. Thousands of employees will have to face job scarcity in aviation sectors.

On the other hand, according to a research an airplane emits a large number of carbon in a single journey of 1 hour which is equal to ten trains traveling continously for twelve hours and 50 busses for 24 hours. In addition, if the airplanes will require less fuel than it will be very beneficial for those who commute daily by car or motorbikes as the fuel's price will decline. Furthermore. birdstrike is the major problem faced by an airplane as it completely damages the engine mid air putting the passengers life at risk. Subsequently, this would not be a problem anymore if the individuals avoid flights.

To conclude, it will be very beneficial for the comman people as the fuel prices will start to decline whereas the aviation sector will have to face huge losses and many employees will have to lose their jobs which will impact the economy of the country.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the disadvantages and the environmental benefits of reducing air travel, meeting the basic requirements of the task. However, the development of ideas remains limited and under-developed. For instance, the discussion on the economic impact and the comparison of emissions between airplanes and other transport modes lack sufficient elaboration or convincing, well-supported examples. The writer's position is discernible, but the overall treatment tends to be somewhat generalized and superficial, preventing the response from achieving a higher level of thoroughness and extension.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some overall organization, featuring an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, which provides a basic framework. However, there is no clear overall progression throughout the text, as ideas tend to jump between different points without seamless transitions. Cohesive devices are at times inadequate, repetitive, or used somewhat mechanically, such as repetitive use of transitional markers like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. Furthermore, referencing and paragraphing show some structural issues that hinder the smooth flow of information.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'bankruptcy', 'scarcity', and 'emits', but there are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling, such as 'comman' instead of 'common', 'stop using' instead of 'stopping the use of', and 'ans' instead of 'and'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips occur frequently enough to cause occasional difficulty or hesitation for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing exhibits a limited range of sentence structures, and attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, such as in the conditional construction 'if the airplanes will require less fuel than it will be very beneficial'. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'numerous individuals... it may be lead', article omissions, and incorrect prepositions inside grammatical patterns. These frequent errors persist and can cause some difficulty for the reader.

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