Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-05

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)

In many parts of the world, it is often argued by some people that the main environmental problem nowadays is the loss of specefic species of plants and animals. Although some people may not find it relevant because they consider traffic and population as the main causes of environmental problems.

On the one hand, plants play an important role in our environment as they absorb many cautious gases which pollute our surrounding. In recent times, a lot of plants have been cultivated in order to increase the boundary of cities and to build roads. Many forests have been completely wiped out because of the projects of hotels and farmhouses have been introduced. Due to shortage of plants, many animals have lost their habitat and it is affecting our environment as they play a huge role in controling the population by preying on species which are quite frequent.

On the other hand, growing vehicles also contribute in pollution as they use fuel and eject hazardous gases into the environment. Another factor which is playing quite a massive role in pollution is the development in the industries. Many industries run on large engines and they produce massive amount of pollution. A cause which is huge growth in population is regarded as the newest environmental problem.

In my perspective, I strongly believe that there are more important environmental problems except than loss of particular species. A huge growth of population has errupted the cycle of nature as more resources are required in order to maintain the life cycle.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both views on environmental problems and providing a personal opinion, which keeps it within a partial fulfillment of the task. However, the ideas remain somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the first paragraph introduces the loss of species and competing issues like traffic, but the development of these points lacks depth. The body paragraphs touch upon deforestation and vehicle pollution, yet these explanations are brief and tend to over-generalise without sufficient supporting examples. Your position is stated towards the end, but the reasoning needs more elaboration and extension to fully satisfy all parts of the prompt with well-developed ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some organisation through the use of standard transitional markers such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand', which helps structure the contrasting arguments. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the logical flow between sentences can feel disjointed. For example, the transition from discussing plant loss to animal population control lacks a smooth cohesive bridge. Furthermore, referencing is not always clear, particularly with pronouns and determiners, and some cohesive devices feel mechanical or repetitive, which prevents the essay from achieving a more fluid and transparent structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for discussing general environmental topics. You attempt some less common lexical items, such as 'cultivated', 'habitat', and 'hazardous gases', but there are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word formation that can cause some difficulty for the reader. For example, the misspelling of 'specefic' and 'errupted' (erupted instead of disrupted), as well as awkward phrasing like 'cautious gases' instead of 'toxic gases' or 'greenhouse gases', and 'except than' instead of 'other than'. Expanding your control of collocations and precise terminology is essential to elevate your lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The text demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on basic sentence patterns alongside some attempts at complex sentences. These attempts at complexity are often faulty, featuring frequent errors in grammar, articles, and prepositions that can cause difficulty for the reader. Examples include issues with subject-verb agreement and singular/plural usage, such as 'growing vehicles also contribute in pollution' and 'A cause which is huge growth in population is regarded'. Punctuation and prepositional patterns also show inconsistencies throughout the response, which keeps the grammatical accuracy firmly at this level.

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