Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-28

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)

Some people think that the zoos should be closed down as we no longer need to keep animals in them. I strongly disagree with this opinion as I believe that the zoos are very important in a country. They serve multiple purpose ranging from acting as tourist sites to preservation of endangered animal species.

Firstly, the zoos are used for tourism which helps to improve the economy of the state or a community. People are always willing to pay to visit the zoos and see wildlifes they have never encountered in their lives. In the zoo, people make meomries of their lifetime with their loved ones. In addition, most zoos are built to have massive landspace and picnic areas, which are being used for special occasions such as weddings, birthday parties or to hold the community festivals, thereby bringing people together.

Furthermore, the zoos serve as a safe space to some endangered animals who are at the verge of extinction and to protect them from wildlife hunters. Some of these animals are being killed on a daily basis either for their skin, wealthy collections or being used as lab specimens. For example, when I visited the zoo in Perth, there is one family of dingo crocodiles which are the only ones alive all over the world. They were rescued by the governmet and sheltered in the zoo to protect them from predators, and preserve their family line through crossbreeding.

In conclusion, zoos are very much needed in our society and should not be closed. This is because they serve so many improtant functions spanning from making money for the community to preserving the lifes of animals in danger.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by clearly stating a position against closing zoos and supporting this with relevant ideas. The writer presents two main arguments: the economic and social benefits of tourism, and the protection of endangered species. For instance, the mention of visiting the zoo in Perth and the protection of dingo crocodiles provides a specific, albeit slightly inaccurate, example from personal knowledge. While the ideas are generally relevant and extended, the arguments could be developed with greater depth or more rigorous examples to reach the highest bands. Overall, the task is well addressed, establishing a clear stance throughout the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression and logical organisation. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, beginning with an introduction, moving to economic and social benefits in the second paragraph, wildlife preservation in the third, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'In addition', 'Furthermore', and 'In conclusion' are used to structure the text, although some feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct main ideas. Referencing is generally clear, contributing to a coherent reading experience, though smoother transitions between sentences would elevate the score further.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'preservation', 'endangered', 'extinction', and 'specimens'. However, there are several lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations. For example, the student writes 'wildlifes' instead of 'wildlife', 'meomries' (a spelling error), 'massive landspace' instead of 'landspace' or 'land area', and 'wealthy collections' instead of 'private collections' or 'trophies'. Furthermore, 'dingo crocodiles' is biologically inaccurate. Despite these slips, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without impeding communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and conditional-style constructions. There are instances of good grammatical control, such as 'People are always willing to pay to visit the zoos and see wildlifes they have never encountered in their lives.' However, several grammatical errors are present, including article misuse ('the zoos' used generally), preposition errors ('space to some endangered animals'), and verb agreement or tense issues ('there is one family... which are'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the frequency of minor structural and grammatical errors places this response firmly in the Band 6 category.

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