Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-30

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)

In this modern era, going from one country to another has been made easier by the invention of aircrafts which decrease the travel time.It has become increasingly common in recent years that many people took a decision to minimize their trips or to stop flying completely per year. Although this development has some advantages for individuals, i beleive there are considerably greater disadvantages of this for individuals as well as bussinesses.

One major disadvantage of reduction in the numbers of air trips in a years for bussinesses especially, it makes the bussinesses deals slower. In other words, not reaching in a particular meeting to make a deal can lead to cancellation in orders or delaying of decision which can affect the company negatively. A clear example of this is, if a bussiness man used to go for every essential meeting himslef and if he reduce or stop by now it will make a negative impact on clients/customers. As a result, bussiness lost its market value.

Another significant disadvantage for both is that, it takes more time to go by road than by air anywhere in the world. This can be explained by the fact that, travelling fast can save people time which is more precious than anything. Especially for workers, they want to reach on time with less travel duration, so if people minimize their flights, it automatically leads to disturbance in the life of employers and individuals. For instance, One of my friend wants to go dubai from KSA for real estate purpose but he chose to driven by car instead of flying which leads to cancellation of a deal with american clients.

Despite these disdvantages, there are also some benefits to consider. The main benefit is that people can save their money because international and domestic flights both are costly. And it requires more monthly income to take this facility. So individuals and small bussiness owners can save their finances for future by lowering or stopping the number of times they fly every years.

In conclusion, although reducing number of flights have some benefits but i believe that its negative effects are more significant, particularly it leads to more travel duration which makes the most disturbance in reaching at any event. I suggest to all people who have decided this thing, that it will not make your life more easier. other than that i makes it more strugglefull.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You give a clear overall view that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, and you support this with relevant points about business meetings, travel time and saving money. The business example and the account of your friend’s journey help make the argument concrete. However, the response only partly addresses the central comparison: the question asks specifically whether environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages, but the environmental benefits are not explained at all. Most of the discussion instead presents reduced flying as harmful, with limited development of how these effects compare in importance. To strengthen the response, explain how fewer flights reduce emissions or pollution, then weigh that benefit directly against the effects on individuals and businesses. Develop each main point with clearer reasoning and support.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, two paragraphs on disadvantages, a paragraph acknowledging a benefit, and a conclusion. This makes the overall direction easy to follow, and transitions such as “Despite these disadvantages” signal a change in focus. However, progression is sometimes weakened by unclear links between claims and examples. For instance, the Dubai journey example does not clearly explain why driving caused the deal to be cancelled, and the conclusion introduces a recommendation rather than simply drawing together the argument. Some linking phrases, including “In other words” and “As a result,” are used mechanically or connect ideas that are not fully established. Make each paragraph follow a clear point–explanation–example sequence, and ensure references such as “this development” have an unmistakable meaning.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the general argument, including “air trips,” “clients/customers,” “market value,” and “monthly income.” There are also attempts at more formal expressions, such as “significant disadvantage” and “negative effects.” However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices, collocations and spelling errors make the writing less natural and sometimes slow the reader. Examples include “bussinesses deals,” “cancellation in orders,” “travel duration,” and “more strugglefull”; repeated misspellings of “business” are also noticeable. Aim for precise, natural combinations rather than translating phrases directly. Building a small set of accurate expressions for aviation, emissions, business travel and time costs would help you express the argument more clearly and flexibly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a concession beginning “Although this development…” and conditional examples using “if.” This shows some range, but complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to make parts of the response difficult to follow. For example, “One major disadvantage … it makes the businesses deals slower” lacks a clear grammatical connection between the opening phrase and the main clause. There are also problems with agreement and verb forms in “if he reduce or stop” and “reducing number of flights have,” as well as sentence-boundary and punctuation errors, such as the missing space after “time.” Practise building complete sentences with one clear subject and verb, then check agreement, articles and punctuation before adding more complex clauses.

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