Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-25

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)

There is an ongoing debate about the reducing number of flying every year to save environment. This essay will discuss the main advantages and disadvantages of this development before explaining why I believe advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

One major advantage by reducing the number of flying every year is that people can help to reduce the affect on climate change. This is because the flying is one of the biggest contributor of pollution in the atmosphere that effects on climate. For example, pollution is the major reason for damaging the ozone layer that protect earth from sun rays. Therefore, less flying can save environment by reducing pollution.

However, one significant disadvantages is that individual's income and businesses reveune can be reduced by less flights. This can be explained by the fact that businesses can less focus on new employment opportunities and expention of business. For instance, as businesses going to face decreasing revenue then investors avoid to invest money in the sector that create less employment opportunities and affect the economic development of society. As a result, businesses will face less reveune and individuals receive less income opportunities.

In conclusion, less flying can save environment, although it may reduce businesses and individuals income. Overall, I believe that advantages outweigh the disadvantages because climate change benefit more significant than potential drawbacks.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address both sides of the question and state a clear view: environmental benefits outweigh the economic disadvantages. The points about aviation pollution and reduced business revenue are relevant, and the example involving investors gives some support to the economic argument. However, the response is under the required 250 words, and this limits how fully you can develop the ideas. The environmental explanation is also unclear and partly inaccurate: the claim that pollution is the major reason for ozone-layer damage does not directly explain the broader climate-change benefit. Explain how fewer flights reduce aviation emissions, then develop the effects on individuals and businesses with a specific example. This would make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, one paragraph for the environmental benefit, one for the economic disadvantage, and a conclusion that restates your position. Linking expressions such as “However,” “For example,” and “As a result” help show the relationship between ideas. The progression is generally easy to follow, although some connections are mechanical and the reasoning within the business paragraph becomes difficult to track, particularly from “businesses can less focus” to the point about investors and employment. Use clearer cause-and-effect links and make each sentence build on the previous one. A more developed paragraph structure, with a specific example followed by its consequence, would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “climate change,” “pollution,” “employment opportunities,” “investors,” and “economic development.” This gives you a workable range for discussing the issue. However, several noticeable word-choice, collocation, word-form, and spelling errors reduce precision: “affect on climate change,” “biggest contributor,” “businesses reveune,” and “expention of business.” Some phrases are also awkward, such as “the reducing number of flying.” Aim to learn common combinations such as “reduce the number of flights,” “contribute to emissions,” and “business revenue.” Proofreading spelling and choosing accurate forms will make your meaning clearer and help you express the argument more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a reason clause beginning “This is because” and a conditional construction with “then investors avoid to invest.” The main ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “One major advantage by reducing” needs a clearer grammatical pattern, and “businesses can less focus” has incorrect word order. There are also problems with agreement and articles in “one of the biggest contributor” and “the ozone layer that protect earth.” Review subject–verb agreement, article use, and verb patterns after “avoid.” More accurate sentence construction, especially in the longer business explanation, would make the argument easier to follow.

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