Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-19

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 5.0)

Environmental problems are one of the most discussing problems nowadays .

Our whole life is science dependent and science is the basic structural and functional unit of our ecosystem .However nowadays the problem of environmental pollution is increasing day by day . As our environment is the essential factor of maintaining our life on earth. As well as it is also very crucial for the maintenance of plants and other organisms life. The main reason behind the environmental problem is the missuse of industrial and waste material of factories.

Environment is becoming pollutant because of the smoke leaving the vehicles which is the main cause or source of environmental pollution. The burning of fossil fuels and industrial wate is left behind unattended which is disposed to the environment directly .

As the safe environment is because of the plants and animals as plants absorbs carbon dioxide and release oxygen to the environment which is the basic factor to sustain life on earth . As these factors are becoming extinct because of the cutting of the plants and trees for obtaining the land for living purpose. Deforestation in my point of view is the main cause of environmental pollution.Trees and plant species are cut off for gaining the land for living purpose and the housing purpose as the population is increasing likewise.

Day after day the problem of increasing population is seeking the attention that the area of living habitat is less so the people cut off the trees to attain the land area.

For instance as the population is increasing day by day the more land area is required to live in. In addition as we cut the trees the plant as well as animals living in those forests lands are loosing their homes and the habitat for other species is also finishing. This depletion of habitat leads to the low oxygen level and increase carbon level in atmosphere which is not suitable for living on earth. The most vital and important neeed on earth to live in is the oxygen for humans and animals and carbon which is essential element of photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight is the plants . Plants release oxygen and animals release carbon and the both compounds combinely made the ecosystem worthy to live in.

If these elements remains decreasing day by day the life on earth may not sustain and cause the death of many plants and animals which and other species as well.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing environmental issues, specifically focusing on the loss of plant and animal species through deforestation and pollution. However, the requirement to discuss both views (the loss of species as the main problem versus other important problems) and give a clear personal opinion is only partially fulfilled. The writer spends the vast majority of the essay elaborating on pollution and deforestation without directly weighing these against other potential environmental crises, such as climate change or resource depletion, as requested by the prompt. Furthermore, the position is somewhat blurred by repetitive explanations regarding population growth and oxygen levels. Ideas are introduced and expanded upon, but the overall development lacks a balanced comparative analysis of the two differing viewpoints. Therefore, this performance aligns closely with Band 5 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay presents a series of ideas related to the environment, but the overall organization and logical progression are weak. The text lacks clear paragraphing, consisting instead of a few overly long and dense blocks of text that merge distinct thoughts together. Cohesive devices are frequently misused or overly repetitive, such as the constant reliance on 'As' at the beginning of sentences (e.g., 'As our environment is...', 'As the safe environment is...', 'As the population is increasing...'), which disrupts the flow and makes relationships between ideas mechanical. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the lack of proper paragraph breaks impedes the reader's ability to follow a structured argument from introduction to conclusion. These features are characteristic of Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited but minimally adequate vocabulary range to convey basic ideas about the environment, using terms such as 'ecosystem', 'deforestation', 'photosynthesis', and 'habitat'. However, there are frequent lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'most discussing problems' instead of 'most discussed problems', 'missuse' instead of 'misuse', 'industrial wate' instead of 'industrial waste', and 'leaving the vehicles' instead of 'emitted by vehicles'. Additionally, words are occasionally invented or confused, such as 'pollutant' used as an adjective meaning polluted. While the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the general topic, noticeable errors cause some difficulty for the reader and prevent the score from reaching Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, leading to run-on sentences and grammatical fragmentation. For example, sentences often begin with dependent clauses ('As...') but fail to complete the main clause logically or grammatically. There are numerous errors in agreement, articles, and prepositions, such as 'the more land area is required to live in' and 'the both compounds combinely made'. Punctuation is also problematic, with missing commas and erratic spacing before punctuation marks. Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause difficulty for the reader in untangling the intended meaning, the grammar sits firmly at Band 5.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.