Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-28

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)

Environmental degradation has sparked heated debate . Some individuals argue that primary environmental challenge is the loss of specific species of fauna and flora,while others believe that there are other serious ecological problems . In my opinion ,i believe that sevaral cases exhist such as carbon emmission and unwarranted disposal of wastes

One the one hand ,people who think that the sole problem to the universe is extinction of rare species having in mind balance of nature . Mutual relationship of organism in ecological niche plays a key role in equalizing natutal co-exhistence. As a result a food web is tampered and may influence existence of other living things.For instance killing of lions in a game park would lead to surge in growth of antelopes putting pressure to food . In addition to competion of food , targeting a specic plant or animal creates a gap in procreation ,this termination of generation is impacted by hunting down creatures to the latter offsprings making them to be extinct

On the other hand, individuals who contend that there exhist other issues impacting environment.To start with industrialization.Multinational and local factories release wastes to rivers which spread over long distance ,poisoning water animals and plants on the river beds. Furthermore ,carbon emmission from industries cause global warming ,which results to flooding and adverse climate change like drought. For instance melting of ice in polar regions have cause heavy rains in polar regions leading to loss of lives

In my opinion ,environmental problems cannot be narrowed down to elimination of plants and animals.There other challenges like pollution from industries and careless human activities.

In conclusion , focus to one challenge affecting nature is a narrow vision that need to be relooked from wider perspective ,as there are several issues impacting our iniverse .activities ranging from human to natural calamities.

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 other issues are more significant—while also providing a clear personal opinion. The student establishes a position in the introduction and reiterates it in the conclusion and body paragraphs. However, the development of ideas is sometimes limited and lacks depth or specific external examples, relying instead on broad generalizations such as 'killing of lions in a game park would lead to surge in growth of antelopes'. While the arguments are relevant, the reasoning is occasionally somewhat abrupt and under-developed, particularly in supporting the main points. Consequently, the performance aligns best with the criteria for a band 6.0, as all parts are addressed with relevant ideas, but some areas lack sufficient extension.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, the two body perspectives, the personal opinion, and the conclusion. However, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty, mechanical, or awkwardly applied, as seen with transitional phrases like 'One the one hand ,people who think...' and 'To start with industrialization.' Punctuation and spacing errors around commas further disrupt the flow of sentences. Referencing is generally understandable, but logical progression between sentences within paragraphs is occasionally disjointed due to grammatical errors and missing linking words. Overall, the organizational structure is visible and the essay is clearly divided, but the mechanical nature of the cohesion and mechanical flaws limit the score to a band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'environmental degradation', 'ecological niche', 'multinational', and 'global warming'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'exhist' instead of exist, 'emmission' instead of emission, 'natutal' instead of natural, and 'iniverse' instead of universe. Furthermore, collocations are occasionally awkward, such as 'putting pressure to food' instead of 'putting pressure on food sources'. While communication is not severely impeded and the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the intended meaning, the frequency of spelling mistakes and lexical inaccuracies prevents the response from achieving a higher band score, placing it firmly at a band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly concerning sentence fragments and incomplete structures, such as 'To start with industrialization.' which lacks a main verb, and 'There other challenges...' which misses the verb 'are'. Article usage, prepositional phrasing, and subject-verb agreement also show consistent errors, for example, 'melting of ice in polar regions have cause heavy rains'. Punctuation is weak, with frequent misuse of spacing before punctuation marks. These errors can cause occasional difficulty or hesitation for the reader, but because a mix of structures is attempted and meaning can generally be deciphered, a band 5.0 is appropriate.

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