Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-28

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)

Some people have chosen to take fewer flights each year, while others have decided to stop travelling by aeroplane completely. These decisions can benefit the environment by reducing carbon emissions and global warming. However, there are some consequences, such as people are unable to travel abroad easily with their families and companies facing difficulties to meet international clients.

Reducing air travel play pivotal role in protecting the environment.One of the main benefits of reducing air travel is that it can help protect the environment. As people may reduce the number of flights they rake so that the number of flights will decrease. With this, carbon emission from plane will decrease. As a result, this can help to reduce the effect of climate change. For example, Nowadays, people can prefer trains instead of aeroplanes for short journeys because of train modern facilities. Therfore it help reduce air pollution.

There are some disadvantages for individuals and businesses.Many people enjoy travelling abroad with their families to explore new places.If they reduce the number of flights they take, it may become difficult and time-consuming for them to visit foreign countries. Moreover, this development could negatively affect the economic growth of

countries that depend heavily on tourism. For instance, fewer international tourists may visit a country, resulting in lower income for hotels, restaurants. In addition, international companies face difficulties in meeting international clients and attending business meetings.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify relevant environmental benefits, including lower carbon emissions and reduced climate-change effects, and you discuss disadvantages for families, tourism-dependent countries, and international businesses. However, the task asks whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and your response does not clearly answer this central question: it presents both sides but gives no firm overall judgement. The ideas are also only briefly supported; for example, the point about companies struggling to meet clients is not explained with a specific consequence. The response is 18 words below the required minimum, which limits the space available to develop your position and examples. State clearly which side outweighs the other, then extend your reasons with explanation or a relevant example.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an environmental-benefits paragraph, and a paragraph on disadvantages. This helps the reader follow the broad direction of your discussion, and transitions such as “However,” “As a result,” and “Moreover” show attempts to connect ideas. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes repetitive or unclear. The environmental paragraph repeats the idea of reducing flights and emissions, while “As people may reduce the number of flights they rake so that the number of flights will decrease” does not express a clear logical link. Paragraph breaks and spacing are also inconsistent. Organise each paragraph around one main point, explain it in a clear sequence, and use linking expressions only where they accurately show the relationship between ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “carbon emissions,” “climate change,” “economic growth,” and “international clients,” which allows you to discuss both environmental and economic effects. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “negatively affect.” However, the range is limited by repeated words and phrases, particularly “reduce,” “flights,” and “international,” and some choices or collocations are inaccurate. For example, “people can prefer trains” is unnatural in this context, and “train modern facilities” does not clearly convey the intended meaning. Spelling errors such as “Therfore” and “rake” also affect accuracy. Build a wider set of precise expressions for travel, emissions, and business impacts, and check spelling and collocations during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “If they reduce the number of flights they take, it may become difficult…” and a result clause beginning “resulting in lower income…”. Meaning is generally understandable, but errors occur in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries. For example, “Reducing air travel play” should use a singular verb, and “carbon emission from plane” needs appropriate plural or article forms. The opening sentence “there are some consequences, such as people are unable…” also combines structures incorrectly. Several sentences run together because punctuation and spacing are missing. Practise checking subject–verb agreement and sentence construction, and use full stops to separate complete ideas.

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