Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-19

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)

Nowadays, people think that animals should not be captive in zoos. Therefore, these facilities should be closed as they are not required anymore. I completely agree with this opinion and think that keeping animals in the zoos carries severe drawbacks.

First of all, keeping animals in zoos is not right. Currently, in such places people mostly see wild animals being kept in the cages. These creatures require a wildlife environment, and not man made facilities with artificial conditions. For example, lions and tigers being kept in zoos face psychological distress and develop abnormal actions. In particular, they fail to engage an animal's natural hunting, foraging, or migrating instincts. Zoos cannot provide them wildlife conditions and do not bring any benefits to animals.

Secondly, many facilities are mostly interested in gaining profits from visitors. Zoos prioritize ticket sales, entertainment, and animal shows over high standards of care. For instance, during wild animals shows the facilities employees usually beat the animals for not following orders or for making mistakes. These actions might not be visible for regular visitors, although it happens throughout the show or afterwards. As a result, animals go through mental and physical abuse on a regular basis. Putting animals in such conditions is heartless and inhuman.

Overall, in conclusion I believe that people should stop keeping animals in the cages. They require a natural wildlife, where they can be in their natural environment. As facilities like zoos do not quite prioritize the animals' health and conditions, they should be eliminated.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have clearly stated your position in the introduction and maintained it throughout the essay. The ideas are relevant, focusing on animal welfare and the profit-driven nature of zoos. However, the development of these ideas is somewhat limited. While you provide examples, such as the psychological distress of lions and tigers, the arguments could be extended further by discussing potential alternatives like wildlife sanctuaries or conservation programs to provide a more balanced and sophisticated perspective. The response addresses all parts of the prompt, but the depth of analysis remains at a functional level rather than a fully developed one.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use basic cohesive devices like 'First of all', 'Secondly', and 'Overall, in conclusion' to signal the progression of your argument. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical. For instance, the transition between the general statement about zoos and the specific example of animal abuse could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and each paragraph has a clear central topic, which helps the reader follow your line of reasoning without difficulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'psychological distress', 'artificial conditions', and 'foraging instincts'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'wildlife environment' (which should be 'natural habitat') and 'inhuman' (which is often used for people; 'inhumane' is the correct term for the treatment of animals). While you successfully convey your meaning, the vocabulary is generally functional and lacks the more sophisticated, precise collocations that would push the score into the higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are recurring grammatical errors. For example, 'animals should not be captive' should be 'should not be kept in captivity', and 'fail to engage an animal's natural... instincts' is slightly awkward. You also have some minor issues with articles and prepositions, such as 'in the cages' (should be 'in cages'). Despite these errors, your control of grammar is sufficient to ensure that communication is not impeded, and you show a reasonable attempt at complex sentence construction.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.