Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-20

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)

some persons are of the view that the main Enviromental problems of our time is the loss of particular species of plants and animals while others are of the opinion that there are more important enviromental pronlems.

first of all those of the view that loss of particular species of plants and animals are the main envionmental problems opines that when a particular species is loss or eroded, the envionment suffers from it, when a specie goes extinct, it will be lead to an alteration of the ecology and climate change. for example a certain specie of animals such as elephants is under extinction due to killing by hunters.

They are also of the view that plants and animals being terminated will lead to scarcity of those rare apecies.

Those in opposition believe that there are other bigger issues when it comes to envionmental problems such oil spillage of the rivers and seas in the niger delta region which has resulted in loss of livelihood for those a=who live within the community, aquatic animals being killed in the seas, farm land been permanently destroyed and living envionment polluted.

Also the problem of flooding of houses diruing the rainy season due to the releasing of dam in cameroon is another envionmental problem. This occurs wen cameroon opens it dams and the waters enters into Nigeria and most of the low Plain communities close to the River Niger and River Benue gets flooded , They now have to migrate to places that are of high plain untill the water reduces to a considerable extent,

I am of the opinion that there are other envionmental challenges that affects us and the problem of loss of particular species of plants and animals is the least of those problems.

In conclusion, envionmental problems are quite numerous as diffrent country have their own envionmental problem.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—that the loss of specific species is the main environmental problem, and that there are more important issues—while also providing a clear personal opinion. The writer presents relevant ideas, such as ecological alteration, climate change, and specific real-world examples like oil spillage in the Niger Delta and flooding caused by dams in Cameroon. However, some ideas are underdeveloped and repetitive, such as the multiple mentions of plants and animals being terminated or facing extinction. The conclusion simply states that environmental problems are numerous rather than synthesizing the main arguments. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, placing it firmly at band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to use paragraphing to separate different viewpoints, grouping the first perspective, the opposing perspective, and the conclusion into distinct sections. However, cohesion is frequently mechanical and faulty. Transitions like 'first of all' and 'Those in opposition' are used, but referencing is sometimes unclear, and punctuation errors disrupt the flow. For example, sentences run together without proper capitalization or spacing, such as 'such oil spillage' missing a preposition and 'a=who' containing a typo. Paragraphing is also somewhat irregular, with the main body split into uneven chunks rather than well-managed, unified conceptual blocks. These issues limit the score to a 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms like 'extinction', 'alteration', 'ecology', 'livelihood', and 'migration'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'Enviromental' instead of environmental, 'pronlems', 'specie' used incorrectly as a plural/singular noun ('a certain specie of animals'), and 'diruing' instead of during. While these vocabulary errors and typos do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Less common vocabulary is attempted but often marred by inaccuracies, justifying a score of 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing subordinate clauses such as 'when a particular species is loss or eroded' and 'when cameroon opens it dams'. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb forms, agreement, and punctuation. Examples include 'loss' instead of 'lost', 'is the loss... are more important' (subject-verb agreement), 'farm land been permanently destroyed' (passive voice error), and missing capitalization at the beginning of sentences. Punctuation is also problematic, with erratic spacing and commas used incorrectly. Because the errors are frequent and occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, particularly with run-on structures, the grammar aligns with band 5.0.

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