Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-09-26

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 4.5)

the question of whether the captivity of keeping the animals in zoo is justifiable in the modern era is a subject of ongoing debut.

keeping animals confined for the entertainment of human is unethically wrong.

I strongly disagree to closed the zoo. In the modern era, animals who kept in zoo are not just a part of entertainment but important for education purpose. by visiting to zoo our kids see and learn about different species which is not possible to see in regular life.

additionally, zoo facilitate invaluable scientific research. biologists working in zoological department and in situation can study animal behaviour and their nutritional requirements. reach not only enhance daily welfare of animals but also yields crucial data for reasearch purposes to get new virus cure.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The student attempts to address the prompt by expressing a clear position against closing zoos, citing educational and research purposes. However, the response suffers from a critical length penalty, containing only 127 words compared to the minimum requirement of 250 words. Because the text is severely under-length, the development of ideas is heavily constrained and incomplete. The position is stated, but the supporting arguments regarding education and scientific research remain underdeveloped and brief. Consequently, the task response cannot be fully realised within such a limited word count. This impacts the overall fulfillment of the prompt, placing the response in the lower band range.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay attempts a logical structure with an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a concluding thought, though paragraphing is somewhat erratic and incomplete. Cohesive devices are used minimally, such as 'additionally' to introduce a new point, but the connections between sentences can feel abrupt due to the fragmented nature of the text. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of extended discourse makes it difficult to demonstrate sustained cohesion. Overall organisation shows some basic framework, but the brevity of the response limits the ability to build clear progression throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student displays a limited vocabulary range appropriate for basic descriptions, with some attempts at less common items such as 'invaluable scientific research' and 'nutritional requirements'. However, there are notable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'captivity of keeping the animals in zoo', 'ongoing debut' instead of 'debate', 'unethically wrong', and 'closed the zoo' instead of 'close the zoo'. Spelling errors like 'reasearch' and 'reach' also occur. These errors demonstrate a restricted lexical control, though communication is generally maintained despite the mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and attempted complex sentence forms, such as 'In the modern era, animals who kept in zoo are not just a part of entertainment...'. However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors including missing relative pronouns ('animals who kept' instead of 'animals that are kept'), incorrect verb forms ('disagree to closed'), and missing articles ('visiting to zoo', 'for education purpose'). Punctuation and capitalization are also inconsistent, as seen in the lack of capital letters at the beginning of sentences. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader.

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

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