Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Barron's Writing · 2026-08-31

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

People should never eat meat because raising animals for human consumption is cruel.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Give reasons for your answer, and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 7.5)

Nowadays, many individuals believe that people should never eat meat because raising animals for food is cruel. I partly agree with this opinion because animal cruelty is a serious issue, but I also think that completely stopping meat consumption may not be practical for everyone.

On the one hand, there are strong reasons why people should reduce or avoid eating meat. In many farms, animals are kept in small spaces and are not treated properly. They may suffer during their life and also during transportation or slaughter. From an ethical point of view, it is unfair to harm animals only for human food, especially where there are many vegetarian options available. For instance, individuals can get protein from lentils, beans, tofu, nuts and dairy products.

On the other hand, saying that a person should never eat meat is too extreme. In some places, meat is an important part of people's diet, culture, and tradition. However, some people may not have easy access to enough vegetarian food or proper nutrition. Instead of banning meat completely, governments and companies should improve animal welfare rules. Animals should be raised in better conditions, and people should be encouraged to eat less meat rather than being forced to stop completely.

In my opinion, people should try to reduce meat consumption and choose more plant-based meals. This can help protect animals, improve health and reduce environmental damage. However, I do not think it is realistic to say that everyone should never eat meat.

To conclude, animal cruelty in meat production is a real problem, so people should eat less meat and support better farming practices. However, completely avoiding meat should be a personal choice, not a rule for everyone

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have addressed all parts of the prompt by clearly stating your position in the introduction and maintaining it throughout the essay. You provided relevant arguments for both sides, discussing the ethical concerns of animal cruelty while balancing them with the practical realities of meat consumption. The ideas are well-developed, particularly in the second and third paragraphs, where you provide specific examples like 'lentils, beans, tofu' and suggest alternative solutions such as 'improving animal welfare rules'. Your conclusion effectively summarizes your stance. To reach a higher band, you could further extend your arguments by briefly exploring the environmental or health implications mentioned in your conclusion to add more depth to your analysis.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

Your essay is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, and you use cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'To conclude' effectively to guide the reader. The transition between your acknowledgement of the cruelty issue and your counter-argument regarding practicality is smooth. The paragraphing is appropriate, and referencing is clear throughout the text. To improve, you could experiment with a wider variety of cohesive devices to avoid slightly repetitive structures, ensuring that the flow between sentences feels even more natural and sophisticated.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with precision. Phrases like 'animal welfare rules', 'plant-based meals', and 'environmental damage' are used accurately. You successfully avoid repetition by using synonyms and related terms. While your vocabulary is adequate and clear, it is mostly functional. To achieve a higher band, you should incorporate more sophisticated or less common lexical items, such as 'intensive farming practices', 'ethical implications', or 'nutritional necessity', which would demonstrate a greater degree of flexibility and stylistic awareness in your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

Your writing displays a good control of grammar with a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most of your sentences are error-free, and your punctuation is generally accurate. You use conditional structures and modal verbs effectively, such as 'people should be encouraged' and 'I do not think it is realistic'. There are no significant errors that impede communication. To move toward a higher band, you could incorporate a wider variety of complex grammatical structures, such as inversion or more advanced relative clauses, to show greater flexibility and control over your sentence construction.

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