Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-13

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 assured that they will reduce the number of flights they take every year or even stop flying altogether. While this can cause a financial crisis in a country by reducing tourism, it also offers environmental benefits, such as less air pollution and lower fuel consumption. In my opinion, the environmental benefits outweigh the drawbacks for businesses or individuals.

The major advantage of reducing the number of flights is the low emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Aeroplanes burn aviation fuel and release carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming and climate change. Flying less helps reduce these emissions and prevent climate change. Another advantage is less fuel consumption, which protects natural resources and the environment. Fuel is a natural resource that is depleting day by day, leaving very little for other uses. If people fly less, fuel will be reserved for future generations. For example, if people travel by train or bus instead of flying for shorter distances, there will be less fuel consumption comparatively.

Conversely, the disadvantage of a reduced number of flights is that travel time will increase for people. If a person prefers to travel by train, bus, or ship instead of flying, travel time increases and the experience can worsen due to exhaustion. For example, a person travelling by train for 10 hours to a city can reach to the same city in less than 2 hours by flight. Another drawback is that tourism in foreign countries will decline, causing a financial crisis. Many countries are known for tourism, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, and many others. These countries will face a serious backlash if their tourism is affected.

In conclusion, I believe that even though individuals can travel comfortably by air, they should avoid short flights and choose other modes of transportation to benefit the environment by consuming less fuel and emitting less carbon dioxide.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your position is clear: you believe the environmental gains outweigh the disadvantages, and you address both sides of the comparison. The discussion of aviation emissions and fuel use is relevant, while the drawbacks of longer journeys and reduced tourism respond directly to the question. The examples of alternative transport and tourism-dependent countries help illustrate your points. However, some ideas are less fully developed than others. For instance, you state that reduced tourism could cause a “financial crisis” but do not explain the scale of the impact or how it compares with the environmental benefits. The argument would be more convincing if you weighed these consequences explicitly and supported broad claims with more precise reasoning. Your conclusion restates your view but could summarise that comparison more clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on environmental benefits, a paragraph on disadvantages, and a conclusion. Ideas progress logically, and signposts such as “Conversely” and “In conclusion” make the direction of the argument easy to follow. Examples are generally placed alongside the points they support. To make the progression more flexible and cohesive, connect some claims more explicitly: the sentence about fuel being “reserved for future generations,” for example, could be linked directly to the earlier point about emissions and the overall environmental case. The transition from individual travel inconvenience to national tourism impacts is understandable, but a clearer distinction between these two disadvantages would strengthen paragraph organisation. Overall, cohesion is effective, though some linking remains formulaic.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “greenhouse gases,” “carbon dioxide,” “fuel consumption,” “natural resources,” and “tourism.” These terms allow you to discuss the environmental and economic dimensions clearly. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “contributes to global warming” and “travel by train or bus instead of flying.” Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “assured that they will reduce” does not express the intended idea naturally, and “serious backlash” is not the best collocation for economic harm to tourism. “Financial crisis” is also stronger than the explanation supports. Aim for precise, natural collocations and avoid repeating “less” where alternatives such as “reduced” or “lower” would improve variety.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures such as “If people fly less, fuel will be reserved for future generations” and a concessive opening with “While.” Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, and punctuation generally supports readability. Some grammatical errors remain. In “a person travelling by train for 10 hours to a city can reach to the same city,” the verb pattern should be “reach the same city,” without “to.” The phrase “travel time increases and the experience can worsen” shifts from a general condition to a definite result; a conditional form such as “would increase” would fit the hypothetical context more consistently. There is also an awkward construction in “the low emissions,” where the sentence needs a clearer grammatical relationship between flying less and emissions. Greater control of verb patterns and conditional phrasing would improve accuracy.

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