Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-10-05

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)

Many individuals have debated about whether to keep the animals in the zoo. Some argue on not constraining them in the closed prisons and therefore, they should be allowed to thrive freely in their natural habitat. Thus, I strongly support this point of view as animals are best to keep in their natural place where they belong, instead of imprisoning them in the zoos.

Zoos are considered as the source of entertainment and enjoyment for various people in a safe way. Many tourists visit the urban animal zoos to look the wide range of animals like lions, rhinos, giraffe, zebras and so many others. Along with them, children visiting this place, are believed to get educated about different animal species, as they watch them physically but in a safe manner. A perfect instance of this can be found in India where kids with their parents, visit the local animal zoos to enjoy looking at different animals, along with reading their descriptions that are printed outside the cell. Hence, they can relate to what they have studied during their schools along with a joyful experience with their family.

However, confining these animals to the prison solely for the purpose of revenue and enjoyment can lead to their separation from thier original home; the forests. It is often observed that some zoos don't treat animals well, as they keep them hungry for several days due to carelessness. This deprives their energy and nutritional requirements; as a result, it can cause weakness and laziness making them inactive and incapable of doing hunting. In worst case, they die out of hunger. For example, Tanzania Zoo in Africa is very infamous for this. They kept animals out of food for several days due to nationwide hunger strike. As a result, a majority of animals were affected, with some of them had died and others were affected by serious illnessess.

To conclude, although animals are confined in zoos allowing children to learn about them, I firmly withstand the view of keeping them in the forests as they will be able to thrive freely in their home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and maintains a clear position throughout in agreement with closing zoos. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. The counter-argument acknowledging the educational value of zoos in the second paragraph is somewhat superficial, and the supporting example from India is general rather than deeply explored. In contrast, the argument regarding animal welfare is slightly better elaborated with the specific mention of the Tanzania Zoo, though the premise remains somewhat anecdotal. To move to a higher level, the ideas would need to be extended with more nuanced arguments and deeper analysis regarding conservation efforts and modern ethical standards.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Information and ideas are logically sequenced, moving from the student's stance to the opposing view, followed by the main supporting argument. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. Devices such as 'Along with them', 'Thus', and 'Hence' are used somewhat repetitively or rigidly. Paragraphing is present and serves to separate main ideas, but referencing can occasionally become slightly unclear, such as pronoun tracking in the second paragraph when referring back to children and animals.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less-common lexical items such as 'constraining', 'nutritional requirements', and 'infamous'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form throughout the response, such as 'look the wide range' instead of 'look at', 'doing hunting' instead of 'hunting', 'illnessess' with a spelling error, and 'nationwide hunger strike' used in an unnatural context for animals. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they reflect limitations that prevent the lexical score from rising higher.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures appropriately. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as article omissions and prepositions inside grammatical patterns (e.g., 'argue on not constraining', 'visit the urban animal zoos'). Plurals and verb agreements also show minor slips, such as 'some of them had died'. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication and the majority of simple sentences are accurate, while complex structures are attempted with varying degrees of success.

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