Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-17

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)

While some people argues that loss of some plants and animals species is the main environmental concern in recent times, others state that alternative environmental issues exist.

Animals and plants play a crucial role in environmental sustainability. Through various interactive behaviour of flora and fauna, the food cycle thrives. When a particular species get extinct, it directly hampers the overall food cycle and environmental crisis occurs. Although it takes a long time to actually observe the impact and it becomes barely noticible because of the adapting nature of the environment.

By contrast, various human activities also causes environmental issues. For example, cutting trees at a large scale, increasing carbon emission rates and dumping human wastes into the sea water. All of these activities contribute to problems like climate change, rising temperature, loss of various animals and plant species etc. The effects can be observed almost immediately over the years like melting glaciers, rising sea level etc.

In conclusion, both of these views are concerned about the environmental future but there are some significant differences. Loss of particular species causes an indirect impact to the environment, while harmful human activities directly affect the environment. From my perspective, restricting human activities would be much more beneficial for the environment in both short term and long term as it directly affects the environmental conservation. Every year government launches various environmental sustainability projects to protect the environment. Native citizens also contribute to these government projects to make their city more clean, sound and healthy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—the loss of specific species versus other major environmental problems—and provides a clear personal opinion in the conclusion. The ideas are generally relevant, but the development is somewhat limited in places. For instance, the discussion on biodiversity loss touches upon the food cycle, but the explanation remains brief and relies on a fragment in the second paragraph ('Although it takes a long time...'). The counter-argument regarding human activities is better supported with examples like cutting trees and carbon emissions. Because the main prompt requirements are addressed with a clear position and supporting arguments, but some ideas lack full extension, this response fits comfortably into Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression from introduction to body paragraphs and conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different views and the writer's perspective. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as 'By contrast,' and 'In conclusion,' though referencing and connection within paragraphs can occasionally feel mechanical or slightly disjointed, as seen with the dangling dependent clause starting with 'Although it takes a long time'. Overall, the logical structure is clear and easy to follow, justifying a Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'environmental sustainability', 'flora and fauna', 'carbon emission', and 'glaciers'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'loss of some plants and animals species' instead of 'plant and animal species', 'interactive behaviour', and 'cutting trees at a large scale' rather than 'on a large scale'. Additionally, there are minor spelling slips like 'noticible'. While less common vocabulary is attempted, these inaccuracies place the lexical performance securely at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. The writer attempts complex structures using subordinating conjunctions like 'While' and 'Although'. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text. Notable errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('some people argues' instead of 'argue', 'species get extinct' instead of 'gets' or 'become'), sentence fragments ('Although it takes a long time to actually observe the impact and it becomes barely noticible because of the adapting nature of the environment.'), and minor prepositions errors ('into the sea water'). These errors occasionally distract the reader, though they rarely impede overall communication, pointing directly to a Band 5.5.

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