Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-18

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)

There is a considerable debate about whether the main environmental problem of our time is the loss of particular species of plants and animals. While others say that there are more important environmental problems. I believe that loss of living organisms and plants is an environmental challenge to some extent but there are more important problems in our surroundings than this one. This essay will illustrates both of these views along with my opinion.

Firstly, some people think that losing many species of living fauna and flora can leads to disturbance of food chains and food webs in an ecosystem. As all types of plants and trees acts as producers in an ecosystem, they helps to start the food chain in the community. All types of herbivores depends on these plants. And these particular herbivores are the food of the carnivorous. So, any disturbance in any of these plants and animals can change the whole food web ultimately causing hazards for whole society. For example if producers are less in an ecosystem it can reduce the species number which depends completely on plants such as goats, cows and buffaloes. As a result, it can decline the food cycles in the environment.

Scondly, some animals and plants are also used in the manufacturing of medicines in the pharma companies. So, it can harm the medical industry if there is a loss of particular species of plants and animals. For instance, the many roots of trees and many animals products especially the venome of snake is used in the medicine industry. And any disturbance in these species can cause harm the health department. Consequently, losing many valuable species can leads to loss of many vital medicines.

However, some people think that there are more important problems in our surroundings as compared to these species extinction. They think that air pollution and water pollution matters more because these refers to our basic needs. As water is our basic need and we cannot live without it, we should take more precautious measures for it. Moreover, air pollution is also very common in many countries and it is causing many diseases in humans such as lungs and skin related problems. In a result, it also take part in the health problems by damaging the quality of air and water.

In my opinion, there are many important problems in our environment as compared to the extinction of living organisms. Because our life totally rely on water and our body contain a large amount of water contents. So, we ought to protect these factors bacause major industries and transport vehicles are directly contaminating these resources.

In conclusion, although plants and animals sare important for our survival but other factors like water and air quality matters more. So, government should take ca

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views on whether species extinction is the primary environmental concern and providing a clear personal opinion. The student explores the arguments surrounding biodiversity, food chains, and the pharmaceutical industry, and contrasts them with alternative views focusing on air and water pollution. Ideas are generally well-supported with examples, such as the mention of goats, cows, and the venom of snakes in medicine. However, the introduction contains a minor grammatical fragment ('While others say that there are more important environmental problems'), and some supporting arguments are slightly repetitive. Overall, the task is fully addressed with a clear position maintained throughout, aligning well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors. A band score of 6.5 is awarded.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response features a clear overall progression and logical paragraphing. Each body paragraph has a distinct focus, moving from food chain disruptions to pharmaceutical impacts, followed by counter-arguments about air and water pollution, and finally a clear conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Scondly', 'However', and 'In conclusion' are used to structure the text, although some referencing is slightly mechanical. Paragraph transitions work reasonably well to guide the reader through the arguments. While paragraphing is sufficient, occasional mechanical connectors and slight awkwardness in paragraph-level links prevent a higher score. A band score of 6.0 is appropriate.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'ecosystem', 'pharmaceutical industry', 'biodiversity (contextually implied)', and 'contamination'. However, there are noticeable word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'Scondly' instead of 'Secondly', 'venome' instead of 'venom', and 'precautious' instead of 'precautionary'. Additionally, phrases like 'health department' are slightly unnatural in an environmental context. Despite these limitations and spelling inaccuracies, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded. This performance corresponds to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional-like clauses and subordinate structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in subject-verb agreement and pluralisation, such as 'plants and trees acts as producers', 'they helps to start', 'herbivores depends', 'can leads to', and 'water and air quality matters more'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but sentence fragments in the introduction weaken the grammatical control. The frequent errors in basic grammatical rules prevent the response from reaching Band 6.5, but the mix of structures and intelligible communication support a Band 6.0.

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