Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-25

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 this era of digitalization, people can watch everything using digital gadget so some individuals opine that zoos should be closed because they no longer need to have animals kept in zoos. I totally disgree with this notion and my stance will be justified in the upcoming paragraphs.

As per the opposers' point of view, zoos are important for the children's development. Children usually watch animals in TV or streaming platforms. Therefore, they cannot watch live. As a result, their knowledge of animals become limited. Furthermore, animals are more safer in zoos rather than in forest. For example,in some countries, rare species like black panther, white tiger, are more healthier in zoos, as they give them time-to-time meals and medicines, which they do not get if they live in forests. If there will be no zoos in the future, it can cause loss of some animal species. Hence, future generation never get a chance to see some rare animals.

Moreover, zoos gives more information about animals nowadays. Though children can learn about animals from the books, zoos can provide more detailed and accurate information. For instance, Zoos use presentation and flyer that gives people more exposure to information about animal species, they never heard or read about. Thus, awareness ragarding saving animals can be spread easily.

To conclude, zoos can help public to save animals, motivate children to go outside and gain some knowledge about animals, spread awareness, and upcoming generation can see some species of animals so zoos should be opened for everyone.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses the prompt by clearly stating a position disagreeing with the closure of zoos and provides supporting arguments throughout the essay. The response covers relevant points, such as educational value for children and the protection of endangered species, which align with the requirements of an academic task response. However, the development of some ideas tends to be limited and slightly repetitive, such as the general assertions about children watching animals on screens versus live viewing. While the stance is clear throughout and all parts of the task are addressed, the arguments would benefit from deeper elaboration and more sophisticated examples to reach a higher band. Overall, the performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptors because it presents a clear position and relevant, albeit somewhat underdeveloped, ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a logical overall progression with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. The student uses basic cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'For example', 'Moreover', and 'To conclude' to signal transitions between ideas. However, paragraphing is somewhat basic and the referencing within sentences occasionally feels mechanical. For instance, sentences like 'If there will be no zoos in the future...' show awkward logical transitions. Additionally, cohesive devices are sometimes overused in a formulaic manner. Despite these shortcomings, the writing is coherent overall and follows a recognisable structure that allows the reader to follow the train of thought without major difficulty, fitting the criteria for a Band 6 score.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating ideas about digitalization, endangered species, and educational exposure. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary items, such as 'digitalization', 'endangered species', and 'presentation and flyer'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text, including 'animals are more safer' instead of 'safer', 'more healthier' instead of 'healthier', 'awareness ragarding' instead of 'regarding', and 'animals can help public to save animals'. Spelling and morphological errors occur, but they do not seriously impede communication. The vocabulary control is sufficient to achieve a Band 6, showing an adequate range with some limitation and recurring errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in grammatical structures. The student attempts complex sentences, such as 'Though children can learn about animals from the books, zoos can provide more detailed and accurate information.' However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several errors in tense, conditionals, and articles, such as 'Children usually watch animals in TV' (on TV), 'knowledge of animals become' (becomes), 'If there will be no zoos' (If there are no zoos), and 'zoos gives' (give). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors are frequent, they rarely impede the reader's overall understanding of the message, matching the Band 6 descriptor well.

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