Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

Some people think that loss of some species of plants and animals is the main cause of environmental problems, while some people dont agree with this statement. Lets make an analysis on both the statements.

Plants and animals are the most important factors of our ecosystem. Ecosystem is maintained by various things, most importantly plants and animals. Plants help to conserve the environment by reducing the pollution. Animals are also playing an important role. Food chain and food web is a natural process which depends on three factors i.e, Producers, consumers and decomposers. Producers help in the production of food i.e.plants, which further consumed by consumer i.e. animals, and then algae and bacteria decomposes it and helps in soil nitrification.

If one of both will be absent, whole food chain and food web disturbed, leading to the damage of whole ecosystem. For-instance, plants are the source of food for grazing animals, so the loss of plants lead to the starvation of consumers, and eventually process of decomposition will also stop. Another example Predator and prey relationship beteeen cat and lion. Lion is a predator which kills prey i.e.cat and if animals will be absent from our ecosysytem, this relationship will also be disturbed

I totally agree with the fact that animals and plants are the most important constituents of our ecosystem, and the loss of particular species of plants and animals will lead to the disturbance of environment and our ecosystem. Government should take actions by preventing the people from hunting and removing trees

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the task by discussing the importance of plants and animals to the ecosystem and presenting a clear personal opinion in agreement with the first view. However, the treatment of the prompt is somewhat unbalanced. While it discusses the view that species loss is the main environmental problem in detail, it fails to meaningfully discuss the alternative view that there are more important environmental problems, only superficially mentioning that some people do not agree. Furthermore, the development of ideas in the body paragraphs is occasionally simplistic or factually confused, such as the strange predator-prey example involving a cat and a lion. Because it addresses the prompt only partially and lacks balanced development of both views, it aligns closely with the Band 5 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay displays some basic organization, separating the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion into distinct paragraphs. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression and logical structuring. Cohesive devices are used rather simplistically and repetitively (e.g., 'Plants and animals are...', 'Producers help...', 'Another example...'), and referencing is sometimes imprecise, such as using 'one of both will be absent' to refer to plants and animals. Paragraphing is attempted, but the final conclusion is extremely abrupt and lacks a proper concluding frame. There is no sophisticated management of cohesion, which places this text solidly in the Band 5 range for this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary related to biology and ecology, such as 'ecosystem', 'producers', 'consumers', 'decomposers', and 'nitrification'. However, the range of vocabulary is limited and often repetitive. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'loss of some species... is the main cause of environmental problems', 'whole food chain and food web disturbed', and the misuse of terms in the sentence 'Another example Predator and prey relationship beteeen cat and lion.' Spelling errors such as 'beteeen' also occur. These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect the characteristics of a Band 5 performance.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on simple sentences and basic complex forms. Attempts at more complex structures often result in grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('If one of both will be absent, whole food chain and food web disturbed'), incorrect verb tenses ('animals are also playing' mixed with simple presents), and fragmented expressions. Punctuation is also weak, with missing periods at the ends of sentences and a casual conversational tone ('Lets make an analysis'). Because of the frequent errors and the lack of a wide range of error-free complex structures, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.

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