Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-08-10

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)

Nowadays, a significant number of individuals believe that there is a decline in particular species of plants and animals due to environmental problems; whereas many argues that there more issues that are important than environmental problem. I firmly support the latter view; however, both perspectives will be discussed in the paragraphs.

One compelling reason for the concern of most of the people is that global warming is a challenge that the society has to tackle with. As most of them believe that birds, plants and animals are the most affected ones in this issue. Because they are directly linked with the environment and owing to this there is a huge loss in habitat of these species. In addition, this is mainly due to the pollution which releases from vehicles, households and industries. For instance, most of the vehicles and industries releases harmful gases which can be dangerous for environment.

While, critics of the aforementioned view, including me argue that, the government and the society have more important issues of concern. To clarify, issues like road accidents happening are increasing day to day. The main concern should be on road safety that what are the steps that can be taken to lessen the accidents. Moreover, thefts planned in the country are more important than this. This to say that, today everyone want to earn a good amount weather it is by a business or a crime. So, society have to take steps to solve this issue, rather than concerning about environment.

In conclusion, I reaffirm that loss of species is a great issue for a specific tenure or time but there are much more issues that environmental problems and the society and individuals have to put more emphasis on that.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses both sides of the argument, but the development is problematic. While you mention the loss of species, your counter-argument focuses on road safety and theft. The prompt asks for a discussion of 'other environmental problems' (e.g., climate change, pollution, deforestation), not social issues like crime. By shifting the focus to unrelated societal problems, you have failed to fully address the task requirements. Your position is clear, but the supporting arguments for the second view are off-topic, which significantly limits the depth of your response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. The transition between the environmental focus and the shift to road safety is abrupt and lacks a logical connection. While you use some cohesive devices like 'In addition' and 'Moreover', they are sometimes used mechanically. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final paragraph where the reference to 'that' is ambiguous. Paragraphing is present, but the internal structure of the paragraphs lacks the necessary flow to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You use basic terms like 'good amount' and 'great issue', which are repetitive and imprecise. There are also some collocation errors, such as 'releases from vehicles' (should be 'emissions from vehicles') and 'concerning about environment' (should be 'concerned about the environment'). To improve, focus on using more academic collocations and precise terminology related to environmental science.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the accuracy is inconsistent. You have frequent errors in subject-verb agreement, such as 'many argues' (should be 'many argue') and 'society have' (should be 'society has'). There are also issues with article usage and word forms, such as 'weather it is by a business' (should be 'whether it is through business'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall fluency of the writing.

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