Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-12

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 5.5)

In the modern era, wildlife is an integral part of ecosystems.

There is no requirement to keep wild creatures in zoos. Thus, zoos should be shut down. I disagree with this phenomenon. I elaborate on the reasons in the subsequent paragraphs.

To commence with, the core belief is to keep zoos open rather than close is the best treatment. This has happened numerous times when wildlife has been injured in the forest because of natural calamities like tsunamis, heavy rain, or deforestation. As a consequence, animals need better treatment as well continue observation and veterinary care. This should all be possible because of well-developed zoos. To cite an example, one zoo average heal the number of animal through out the year in release back in forest. This will help the ecosystem to remain in balance. This belief justifies the real importance of zoos in every corner of the country.

Additionally, another reason is the controlled temperature and food. A zoo is the home for ill animals who need specific food and a controlled temperature to heal quickly from injuries or illness. This kind of requirement has been fulfilled by the zoo at the earliest. It has been extremely hard to provide a controlled temperature in the open forest. This has proven that it is worthwhile to have zoos for the animals.

To recapitulate, the reason why people think that zoos should not be closed is that they consider zoos as life-saving treatment centers rather than prisons. Healthy animals have always been in the forest in their freedom. This explains why zoos should not be closed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position against closing zoos. Ideas are presented regarding animal rescue, veterinary care, and controlled environments, which directly support the main argument. However, some arguments lack full development and clarity. For instance, the phrase 'one zoo average heal the number of animal through out the year in release back in forest' is vague, ungrammatical, and lacks specific supporting details or concrete examples. The conclusion also introduces slight confusion by summarizing that zoos are 'life-saving treatment centers' while mentioning healthy animals in the wild. While the overall stance is maintained throughout the response, the limited depth of supporting examples prevents the response from reaching higher bands. Therefore, a Band 6.0 is appropriate as the task is addressed with relevant ideas, but some points remain under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is arranged into logical paragraphs with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion, showing an overall coherent structure. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'To commence with', 'Additionally', and 'To recapitulate'. However, some cohesive links and referencing feel mechanical or awkward. For example, 'the core belief is to keep zoos open rather than close is the best treatment' disrupts the logical flow because the phrasing is confusing. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and separates the main ideas appropriately. Due to occasional faulty cohesion and referencing that requires the reader to interpret the intended meaning, a Band 6.0 accurately reflects the organisational control demonstrated here.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting words and phrases related to wildlife, ecosystems, and medical care, such as 'ecosystems', 'natural calamities', and 'veterinary care'. However, there are numerous word choice and grammatical collocation errors throughout the text. Examples include 'disagree with this phenomenon' (where 'stance' or 'view' would be more natural), 'average heal the number of animal' (which contains severe lexical and grammatical inaccuracies), and 'food' instead of 'diet'. While communication is generally maintained despite these errors, the frequent lexical inaccuracies prevent the vocabulary score from rising into the higher bands. This performance aligns well with the Band 5.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional ideas. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. Noticeable mistakes include subject-verb agreement issues ('animals need better treatment as well continue observation'), awkward infinitive and prepositional usage ('the core belief is to keep zoos open rather than close is the best treatment'), and morphological errors ('one zoo average heal the number of animal through out the year in release back in forest'). Punctuation is generally functional, but sentence structures often break down due to grammatical strain. Because of the frequency of errors in complex structures, a Band 5.0 is the most fitting score.

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