Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-01

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)

Some individuals are inclined to decrease their flying time every year or to completely stop flying. Although this decision can reduce environmental pollution to some extent, I believe this benefit doesn't outweigh the drawbacks of not flying altogether for individuals and businesses because, travelling is not always a luxury but a necessity at times.

Reducing flying time or stopping it completely can benefit the environment as there will be less fuel burned and less pollutant emissioned in the nature. The main disadvantage of flying more and more is that airplanes need more fuel to fly long distances and they exert more pollutants like carbon dioxide and other harmful gases that endanger the environment. If passengers decide to cut down on their journey, then the number of flights will reduce automatically, which means less fuel will get burned and less pollutants will be released in the ecosystem. Thus, this can be beneficial to the environment as there can be more fuel reserved and less greenhouse gas emitted. However, cutting down flights can only do so much to save the nature when industrialization is in full motion in every country around the world.

On the other hand, not flying can cause severe problems for individuals and businesses. Individuals need to fly often from one end of the world to another for causes like higher education, job opportunities, and healthcare facilities. For instance, students fly abroad for getting better education, job holders may get major career opportunities abroad and people often need better healthcare services which aren't available in their homeland, so they fly abroad for medicine and operational needs. As for businesses, airlines not only contribute to the finance by earning revenues from passengers but also it facilitates import and export services for a country, which is vital for a country's overall economy. If airlines stop tomorrow, not only individuals but also a whole nation will become stagnant as airlines connect nations politically.

In conclusion, although reducing flight time may benefit the environment, but its drawbacks are way to many for this development to outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Your position is clear: you accept that reducing flights benefits the environment, but argue that the disadvantages for people and businesses are greater. You address both sides and give relevant examples, including overseas study, employment, healthcare, and the role of airlines in trade. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For example, the claim that reduced flying can only do so much because industrialisation continues is not developed with a comparison of the scale of aviation emissions and other sources. The business argument also moves from airline revenue to national stagnation without showing how reduced flights would produce that outcome. Develop these links and weigh the environmental gains more directly against the specific costs to individuals and businesses.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall structure: an introduction states your view, the body paragraphs consider environmental benefits and disadvantages, and the conclusion restates your position. Connectors such as “On the other hand” and “For instance” help signal the direction of the argument. At times, however, cohesion is mechanical or the relationship between ideas is not fully clear. The environmental paragraph repeats the idea of less fuel and fewer emissions in several forms, while “Thus” introduces a conclusion that largely restates the preceding explanation. The long sentence beginning “For instance, students fly abroad” combines several examples and would be clearer if divided. Use more precise referencing and transitions, and organise each paragraph around a distinct claim followed by explanation and evidence.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “pollutants,” “greenhouse gas,” “healthcare facilities,” “revenues,” and “import and export services.” These choices make the main ideas clear, and you attempt some less common expressions. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, though: “pollutant emissioned,” “save the nature,” “reduce their flying time,” and “operational needs” do not express the intended ideas naturally. “Stagnant” and “connect nations politically” are also imprecise in the context of the economic effects of reduced air travel. Aim for accurate collocations and more specific terms, such as “cut the number of flights,” “emissions,” and “medical treatment,” rather than relying on broad or awkward phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including conditional structures such as “If passengers decide to cut down on their journey, then the number of flights will reduce.” Most of the argument remains understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems are present. In the opening, the comma after “because” incorrectly separates the clause from its explanation. “If airlines stop tomorrow, not only individuals but also a whole nation will become stagnant” needs a clearer parallel construction, and the final sentence uses “although” and “but” together. There are also agreement and article issues in phrases such as “less pollutants” and “for getting better education.” Review countable and uncountable nouns, clause linking, and punctuation, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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