Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-02

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)

The captivity of animals in small spaces in zoo is a widely debated topic of today. Many people think that animals should not be kept in zoos and they should be closed. Despite many setbacks, I do not agree with the view of closing zoos. I believe that zoos provide a valuable educational information to the younger generations and play role in conservation of endangered species of animals.

On the one hand, the animals in zoos are a great source of knowledge to individuals, especially children who visit the zoos and gain information about the animals. Many zoos, such as zoo in the USA, Chicago, runs educational programmes which provide people interactive knowledge about different animals. Without zoos it would not be possible for the younger generation to see a wide range of animals in the wild spaces and develop affection and motivation to preserve them. Recently, a zoo in USA has preserved the species of pandas by successfully running the breeding programmes.

On the other hand, many people criticizes the interference with animal life and keeping them in small spaces merely for the purpose of entertainment. Many managements of zoo, commercialize their facility for business. Animals rides and shows are conducted to earn money. Moreover, animals are not cared well and kept in small spaces.

I believe, autorities should regulate the mismanagement in zoos. Only the zoos with modest purpose of education and conservation of animal well being should be allowed to open. The more business oriented zoos should not be allowed to continue.

In conclusion, the governments should pass legislations for zoos, which can help improve people's awareness about endangered animal species and efforts to save them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, stating that zoos should not be closed. Main ideas are relevant, such as the educational value of zoos and conservation efforts, alongside opposing arguments regarding animal welfare and commercialization. However, some ideas are under-developed rather than fully extended. For instance, the mention of Chicago's zoo or panda breeding programs is introduced but not thoroughly expanded upon to deeply illustrate the point. To reach a higher level, the response would need to extend these arguments with more fully developed explanations and specific examples that are tightly integrated into the discussion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logic to the progression of ideas from introduction to counter-argument, counter-rebuttal, and conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct viewpoints, which helps guide the reader. However, cohesion at times feels a bit mechanical or faulty. Phrases like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand' are employed, but some referencing and transitional links between sentences within paragraphs lack smoothness. To achieve a higher standard, the writer should ensure that cohesive devices connect ideas more naturally and that referencing pronouns point unambiguously to their intended antecedents.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to communicate their perspective on animal captivity clearly. There are attempts to use less common items, such as 'conservation of endangered species', 'commercialize their facility', and 'mismanagement', which show an appropriate range. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocations, such as 'animals are not cared well' instead of 'well cared for', and minor lexical slips like 'autorities' or 'criticizes' instead of 'criticize'. These errors do not impede communication, but they reflect a level where vocabulary control is still developing precision and natural flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional-style reasoning effectively. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing or unnecessary articles ('in zoo' instead of 'in zoos', 'a valuable educational information' instead of 'valuable educational information'), pluralisation slips, and prepositions. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear throughout the essay. To move up, the writer needs to increase the proportion of error-free sentences and demonstrate tighter control over article usage and subject-verb agreement.

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