Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-09

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 4.0)

Some people have decided to reduce the number of times they fly every year or to stop flying altogether because of environmenta concerns.

On one hand, reducing air travel can create difficulties. For individuals, flying is a convenient way to visit family members living abroad, explore different conutries and pursue educational opportunities. Travelling less frequently may limit these experiences to make maintaining relationships more challenging. Similarly, business often rely on international flightto useful, they always replace face-to-face communication. Consequently,reducing business travel may effect coorp

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies a relevant disadvantage of reduced flying: individuals may find it harder to visit relatives, travel, and pursue education, while businesses may lose opportunities for face-to-face communication. However, it does not answer the central question because it gives no environmental benefits and never states whether these outweigh the disadvantages. The business point is also cut off before its consequence is explained, and there is no supporting example or conclusion. The response contains 65 words, so it is 185 words below the required minimum; 19 words copied from the prompt were not counted. To improve, address both sides, state a clear position, and develop each main idea with explanation and an example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: “On one hand” introduces disadvantages, followed by separate points about individuals and businesses. This gives the reader a simple direction, but the essay is too incomplete to establish a clear overall progression or balanced argument. The opening only restates the topic, and the final business point ends abruptly at “may effect coorp,” leaving the paragraph unfinished. The transition “Similarly” is appropriate, but the response needs further linking and a conclusion that connects the discussion to a clear answer. Use complete paragraphs for the introduction, each side of the argument, and the conclusion, with cohesive devices that show how each point supports your position.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant topic vocabulary, including “air travel,” “educational opportunities,” “international flight,” and “face-to-face communication.” These phrases show an attempt to discuss both personal and business consequences. However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy, such as “environmenta,” “conutries,” “flightto,” “effect,” and “coorp.” The phrase “business often rely on international flightto useful” is also difficult to understand because the wording is incomplete and the collocation is unclear. Aim for accurate, natural expressions such as “businesses rely on international flights” and “may affect business relationships.” A wider range of vocabulary for environmental impacts and disadvantages would also help you develop the full topic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both a complex opening clause (“because of…”) and a contrastive structure (“On one hand”), and the sentence about individuals is mostly understandable. However, grammatical control is inconsistent in the business sentence: “business often rely” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “they always replace” does not form a clear grammatical relationship with the preceding clause. The final sentence is incomplete, so its structure and meaning cannot be followed. Punctuation is also faulty where “Consequently,reducing” lacks a space after the comma. Build complete sentences with clear subjects and verbs, check agreement and clause connections, and proofread punctuation. For example: “Businesses often rely on international flights, which allow them to meet clients face to face.”

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

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