The only way to reduce the amount of traffic in cities today is by reducing the need for people to travel from home to work, shopping and education. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Traffic congestion is perhaps a serious problem in many citiesa curse in many cities, and it wasteskills valuable time on the one hand and reduces people's productivity and hinders economic progressdegrades people's overall productivity and economic progress on the other hand. Since the main reason for road congestiontraffic gridlocks on the roads is the overwhelming number of people who commute daily, limiting daily commuting to a reasonable extentlimiting it to a reasonable extent is conceivably the best solution to ease traffic congestioncurb the bad traffic. Though the government and city administration can not ask citizens to stay indoors and arrange the "work from home" facility for every professional, there are ways to implement it without creating confusion and dissatisfaction among citizens and curbing traffic problems at the same time. Since we need to reduce the number of commuters and vehicles on the road, which is the only viable solution to traffic problems, we can sort out the professionals who can work from home and then distribute the facilities like shopping centres, parks and banks to all residential areas so that people can get them within walking distance. For instance, IT professionals, lawyers, bookkeepers, customer service representatives, instructors and similar professionalssimilar other professionals do not need to travel to their officesoffice daily as they can perform most of their dutiesexecute most of their responsibilities from home with the help of technology. In this way, road trafficThis way the road traffic could be reduced to a great extent. Moreover, improving some facilities and digitalising many services can reduce unnecessary daily commutingdeter people from unnecessary daily commuting. For instance, many parents travel to their children's schools daily to drop them off and pick them up. If schools offer safe and convenient transport servicestransportation facilities, parents would rely on such facilities rather than travelling daily. Similarly, banking, utility bill payment and help desk should be digitalised so that we can complete our tasks from home rather than visiting those offices. Thus, people's travelThus the movement of people would be restricted and traffic congestion would be reducedthe traffic problem would be reduced. To conclude, traffic congestion in many cities is such a serious problemso big a problem that the authorities are strugglingthe authority is struggling to keep it under control. A large number of commuters and the vehicles they use are the primary reasonsreason for that, and it is expected that the government would facilitate people so that they need to commute less frequently.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The essay’s strongest feature is its clear, practical case that reducing necessary journeys can cut congestion, supported by remote work, local services, school transport, and digital access. Its main limitation is presentation: the response forms one dense block and occasionally repeats the same commuting claim; the highest-priority improvement is to organise the solutions into focused paragraphs and distinguish reduced travel demand from other traffic-management measures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly addresses the “only way” claim, maintains a clear position, and develops several relevant mechanisms and examples for reducing travel demand.
Briefly acknowledge whether any complementary measure could also reduce traffic, then explain why reducing necessary journeys remains the most effective approach.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through remote work, local facilities, school transport, and digital services, but the single-block format and repetition reduce readability.
Use separate paragraphs for the position, workplace and local-access solutions, digital and school-transport measures, and the conclusion.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise for congestion, commuting, services, and technology, with occasional awkward combinations such as “curb the bad traffic.”
Prefer natural phrases such as “reduce congestion,” “remote-working arrangements,” and “essential services within walking distance.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is generally controlled, though some long sentences, agreement choices, and modal shifts reduce precision.
Shorten the longest sentences and check forms such as “services should be digitalised” and “the authorities are struggling.”
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The only way to reduce the amount of traffic in cities today is by reducing the need for people to travel from home to work, shopping and education. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.