Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-31

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 6.0)

Although a considerable amount of people have decided to minimizing the frequency of times they fly every year or to stop flying altogether for environmental reasons, I believe that the benefits of this development do not outweigh the disadvantages, mainly because it will increase problems for individuals, business and economy.

On the one hand, reducing air travel can have positive impact on environment. Fewer flights would reduce the emission of carbon in air which results into air pollution. Moreover, less flights would be beneficial for global warming as well. As a result, this development is beneficial for environment and we could contribute for sustainable future for upcoming generation.

On the other hand, reducing or completely stopping air travel could create significant problems for individuals and businesses. Travelling via road or by train takes much more time compared to flights. For instance, if a person is travelling from one country to another going through train or car is very tiring and non-convenient. As for business point of view, business meetings could happen online via zoom but some businesses require frequent travel for meetings, negotiations and deals. Moreover, completely stopping air travel could negatively affect airports and tourism sector, which could result in unemployment for many individuals. Similarly a large amount of revenue comes from air tickets sale and taxes which contributes in country's economy.

In conclusion, the advantages of this development do not outweigh the disadvantages because reducing air travel is beneficial for environmental reasons, but it could create many problems for individuals, businesses and economy. however technological innovations should be introduced to reduce carbon emissions from aircrafts for minimising air pollution and making the environment cleaner.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear from the introduction and conclusion: you believe the environmental gains do not outweigh the costs. You address both sides, noting reduced emissions and then impacts on travel time, business activity, tourism, employment, and national revenue. These are relevant points, but some are less fully developed than others. For example, the environmental case is stated briefly, while the business and economic disadvantages receive several examples; the claim that air travel creates unemployment is not explained in detail. The final suggestion about cleaner aircraft is relevant but could be connected more explicitly to your overall judgement. To strengthen the response, explain the scale or significance of the competing effects and support key claims with clearer examples. (The required length was met.)

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for benefits and disadvantages, and a conclusion that restates your view. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” “Moreover,” and “In conclusion” help readers follow the argument, and the ideas generally progress logically. This meets the lower-band expectations securely and shows some features of stronger organisation. However, the sequence within the disadvantages paragraph is somewhat list-like, moving from travel time to meetings, tourism, and revenue without always showing how the points relate. The conclusion’s final recommendation also arrives abruptly. Use clearer transitions between related effects and explain the connection between each example and your central comparison to make progression more consistently smooth.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main argument, including “carbon,” “air pollution,” “global warming,” “negotiations,” “tourism sector,” and “revenue.” There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “significant problems” and “sustainable future.” However, several noticeable word-choice and collocation problems limit precision: “a considerable amount of people,” “emission of carbon in air,” “non-convenient,” and “air tickets sale” are not natural expressions. Repetition of “reducing air travel,” “beneficial,” and “problems” also narrows the range. Build a more accurate set of topic collocations and vary repeated terms—for example, use “cut flights,” “lower aviation emissions,” or “economic costs” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a conditional structure in “if a person is travelling…” and a relative clause in “which could result in unemployment.” Most sentences remain understandable, and the argument is not seriously obscured. Some grammatical errors nevertheless recur. For example, “have decided to minimizing” has an incorrect verb form, “Fewer flights would reduce the emission … which results” has a tense/agreement mismatch, and “less flights” uses the wrong quantifier for a countable noun. Articles and sentence punctuation also need attention, particularly the lowercase “however” after the conclusion’s full stop. Review verb patterns, agreement, countable nouns, and sentence boundaries, then proofread for these recurring issues.

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