Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-14

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)

Commuting via flights has become convinient for everyone. Although few people want to control the count of travelling through the air or even avoid it completely, I believe that this could be beneficial nvironmentally for citizens and businesses rather than drawbacks of it.

Terminating the means of travel by air could impact individual and organizations. This is because mostly everyone opt for flights when they plan to visit abroad, if stopped then they avoid going to distant destinations. For example, people often use aeroplanes to visit their distant relatives to meet, when it is unavailable to them may create family issues. Secondly, businesses often find it difficult to trade between countries. As a result, the economy will be reduced which is major problem for countrys' growth.

On the other hand, if number of times travelling through flights is reduced, then may have wide range of benefits to the environment. The first and foremost, air pollution will be controlled, which is the ultmiate solution for global warming. Moreover, individuals can breathe fresh air without any respirational issues. Eventhough businesses find it difficult to deal globally, using sea boats could be cheapest and environment friendly option for them. Therefore, I firmly believe that environment protection should be first priority than comfort travelling for both individuals and businesses.

In conclusion, however there are disadvantages of travelling by air to individuals and businesses, but environment benefits outweight the demerits of commuting by air.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

Your position is clear: you believe the environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and you address effects on both individuals and businesses. You give relevant points, including family visits, international trade, air pollution and sea transport. However, several ideas are asserted rather than explained: for instance, the claim that reduced flying would cause “family issues” needs clearer development, and the effect on businesses is mainly described as economic decline. The environmental benefits are also broad, with no specific example or explanation of how fewer flights reduce emissions. The response is 11 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop and support your arguments. Extend the key points with explanation or a concrete example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction states your view, two body paragraphs contrast disadvantages and benefits, and a conclusion restates your position. Linking expressions such as “On the other hand,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” help signal this structure. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. “This is because mostly everyone opt for flights” does not clearly connect the general claim to the consequences that follow, while “Therefore” introduces a conclusion that could be more directly tied to the preceding point. The final sentence also uses “however” and “but” together, making the relationship awkward. Improve progression by giving each paragraph a clear main point and linking each example explicitly to it.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use vocabulary relevant to the topic, including “air pollution,” “global warming,” “trade between countries,” and “environment protection.” There are also attempts at less common expressions, such as “respirational issues” and “environment friendly,” but some choices are inaccurate or unnatural and reduce precision. Spelling errors such as “convinient,” “nvironmentally,” “ultmiate,” and “outweight” are noticeable. Phrases including “count of travelling through the air” and “comfort travelling” are also awkward; more natural wording would make your meaning easier to follow. Build a reliable range of topic vocabulary and check spelling, word forms, and collocations carefully, especially when using formal expressions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “if stopped then they avoid going to distant destinations” and a concession beginning “Although.” However, several sentences contain errors in agreement, clause construction, or sentence boundaries. For example, “mostly everyone opt” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “when it is unavailable to them may create family issues” lacks a clear grammatical subject. The opening “Although…” clause is also not smoothly connected to the main clause. In the conclusion, “however” and “but” are used together. These issues sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to interpret. Practise constructing complete clauses and checking agreement and punctuation, while retaining your attempts at complex sentences.

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