Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-09

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

We no longer need to have animals kept in zoos, so zoos should be closed.

Do you agree or disagree?

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

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Every form of life on earth should have the freedom to choose, therefore many demand to shut down operations of zoos and let animals live enjoy their lives in their natural habitat. I concur with this statement and in my opinion, action to close zoos should be taken as soon as possible.

Earlier in time before technological advancements, advocates would give an argument to have zoos as a place to educate children through occasional school visits but this reason does not hold the argument strong anymore. Evidently, children now have better resources at their convenience such as internet to learn about animals. Wild animals are forced to live in confined spaces artificially mimicked to their home that affects their mental and physical capabilities over time. For instance, during one of my visits to zoo in childhood saw the officials taking care of a monkey suffering for depression after being exposed to countless people daily over less of its kind.

In well developed nations, this concern is already being dealt with by promoting conservation areas over zoos. Serving a dual purpose, wildlife conservation areas gives the space and natural habitat to fauna while allowing people to visit through safari service. This approach supports good cognitive and non-cognitive well being of animals and is well suited for children as well to visit and learn through it. Nowadays, zoos primarily servers a commercial and imperative purpose of attracting tourists for authorities to get monetary benefits.

Overall, zoos are largely commercialized and do not put much emphasis on it's drawbacks on animals. Moreover, children also do not need to visit zoos for fulfilling their educational objectives, therefore I believe that it is not the appropriate decision to have operational zoos anymore.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response clearly addresses the prompt and maintains a consistent position throughout. You have provided relevant arguments regarding the educational redundancy of zoos and the welfare of animals. The ideas are extended with a personal example and a comparison to conservation areas. To reach a higher band, ensure that all arguments are fully developed; for instance, the point about commercialization could be expanded with more specific evidence or a deeper analysis of the economic versus ethical trade-offs. Overall, the response is well-focused and directly answers the question.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. You use cohesive devices such as 'Evidently', 'For instance', and 'Moreover' to link your points. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are minor issues with referencing, such as 'it's drawbacks' (where 'its' is the correct possessive). Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring precise pronoun usage would enhance the flow further.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision, using terms like 'technological advancements', 'confined spaces', and 'cognitive and non-cognitive well being'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'less of its kind' (which is unclear) and 'servers' instead of 'serves'. While you attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary, some phrasing feels slightly unnatural. Focusing on collocations and ensuring accurate word forms will help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'let animals live enjoy their lives' (missing a conjunction or preposition), 'visit to zoo' (missing an article), and 'suffering for depression' (incorrect preposition). There are also punctuation errors, such as the misuse of the apostrophe in 'it's'. The majority of your sentences are understandable, but more consistent control over complex structures and articles is needed to move into the higher bands.

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