Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-02
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people say that the main environmental problem of our time is the loss of particular species of plants and animals. Others say that there are more important environmental problems.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
Nowadays environmental issues became more challenging at the global level. A certain group of people think these problems caused by losing some special kind of plants and animals. Whereas other say apart from these, there are other problems for environmental issues. This essay is in favour of the letter school of thought due to there are many things that responsible for environmental issue.
Some people argue that, some kind of species of plants and animals were helped for cleaning the environment in the past time. There are some special kinds of plant available on earth, that improves the air quality and reduced the bacteria and pollutions. Some animals such as pig, they also contributes to cleaning the litters. But they are not completely responsible. To give and example, The survey conducted by the students of Oxford University, it is proved that about 30 percent contribution in environmental cleaning was done by plants and animals.
On the other hand, it is said There are others kinds of problems which creates the surrounding issues. Single use plastics and littering anywhere are also a major cause or climate issues. The major environmental problem were conducts by the industrial factories, their wastage were delivered in the rivers and as a result water got spoiled. To quote an instance, World Health Organization had announced that air and water pollutions are majorly caused by industrial activities.
To conclude, although loss of some special kind of species of plan and animals they were helped to clean the surroundings, this essay is in favour of there are many other reasons such as factories that creates the climate issues.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses both views and provides a clear personal opinion. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the claim that '30 percent contribution in environmental cleaning was done by plants and animals' lacks a logical foundation and feels like a filler statistic. The arguments regarding industrial pollution are relevant but could be expanded with more depth to reach a higher band. The position is consistent throughout, but the essay would benefit from more sophisticated reasoning to fully explore the complexity of the prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'On the other hand' and 'To conclude', but they are sometimes used in a mechanical or slightly unnatural way. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the introduction where 'the letter school of thought' is used instead of 'the latter'. Paragraphing is sufficient, but the internal flow within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect sentences more fluidly.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several instances of awkward word choices, such as 'surrounding issues' instead of 'environmental problems' and 'wastage were delivered' instead of 'waste was discharged'. The student relies on basic terminology and struggles with collocations. To improve, the student should focus on using more academic vocabulary related to environmental science and ensuring that words are used in their correct context to convey meaning more accurately.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('these problems caused by', 'major environmental problem were conducts') and incorrect verb tenses or forms ('plants and animals were helped', 'their wastage were delivered'). While the meaning is generally clear, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. More attention to sentence construction and proofreading for basic errors is required.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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