Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-01

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 6.0)

A substantial number of individuals believe that we no longer require to have animals kept in their zoos, hence should be closed. I strongly disagree with this view because zoos play a crucial role in protecting the animals from endangered species, and act as a tourist attraction for locals and international visitors.

To begin with , zoos serve as a home for most animals, encompassing all varieties, including the wild animals.This will prevent detrimental effects that face them such as poaching that takes place when they are not in one habitat. In addition, they can easily be monitored by the wardens, especially regarding their health status and the ecosystems can be maintained for long. For instance, in many national parks one will find a substantial groups of wild animals which are very healthy in their zoos because they are highly protected. Therefore, it is still important to keep zoos alive for the sake of their safety and health.

Another significant point of keeping zoos open, is that it serve as tourist attraction. Many people would have the need to see some wild animals without being harmed, and the only place is when they are in their zoos. Also, local residents are employed in those areas hence improving their standards of living. For example, the Lake Nakuru park has become a home for most tourist especially from overseas. Consequently, for the purpose of tourism and employments zoos should remain open forever.

In conclusion, zoos plays a vital role in protecting endangered species and being a tourist attraction for some visitors, hence i strongly disagree with the opinion that zoos should be closed since we no longer need to have them kept there. Ultimately, the government should enforce laws on destruction of animal zoos and advocate on their protection.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

Your response addresses all parts of the task by taking a clear and consistent position against closing zoos, supporting your stance with reasons related to animal conservation and tourism. You successfully meet the requirements for the mid-band level by presenting relevant main ideas, such as how zoos protect animals from poaching and provide employment opportunities for local residents. However, some of your ideas remain partially under-developed or lack full elaboration. For instance, when you mention that zoos help monitor health status and maintain ecosystems, this point is not fully extended with specific examples, as the subsequent reference to national parks and wild animals is somewhat generalized. To reach a higher level, you need to extend and fully substantiate all your main arguments with precise, well-developed supporting evidence rather than general statements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear stance established in the introduction and reinforced in the conclusion. You make use of paragraphing to separate your main ideas, dedicating distinct body paragraphs to conservation and tourism. Cohesive devices are employed to link your thoughts, using transitional markers such as 'To begin with', 'In addition', and 'Consequently'. However, your progression of ideas occasionally feels a bit mechanical, and some referencing is slightly unclear, such as the pronoun use in phrases like 'prevent detrimental effects that face them' where the exact antecedent is slightly blurred. To achieve a higher level, you should ensure that cohesive devices are used more flexibly and fluidly without relying on overly formulaic transitions, allowing the logical progression between sentences and paragraphs to feel entirely natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common lexical items such as 'detrimental effects', 'endangered species', and 'standards of living'. However, your vocabulary choice and word formation show noticeable inaccuracies that place this response firmly in the mid-band category. There are several instances of awkward collocations and word choice errors, such as writing 'require to have animals kept in their zoos' instead of 'require animals to be kept in zoos', and referring to 'a substantial groups' instead of 'a substantial group'. Additionally, you write 'employments' as a plural noun, and make minor spelling or phrasing slips like 'most tourist' instead of 'most tourists'. To move to a higher band, you need to use a wider range of vocabulary with greater precision, better control of collocations, and fewer word-formation errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout your essay, attempting various structures with varying degrees of success. You successfully incorporate relative clauses and conditional-like justifications, and your overall sentence structures allow your message to come through. However, there are several persistent errors in grammar and punctuation. For example, you write 'zoos plays a vital role' where there is a subject-verb agreement error, and you omit necessary articles or misuse prepositions in phrases like 'for the purpose of tourism and employments'. Punctuation errors also occur, such as the spacing error in 'To begin with ,' and missing capitalisation or punctuation in sentences like 'wild animals.This will prevent'. To reach a higher level, you need to produce a higher proportion of error-free sentences and demonstrate tighter control over articles, agreement, and punctuation.

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