Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-20

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)

It is often argued among individuals, whether extinction of plants and animal species is the main environment problem or there are other important environment problems.

Firstly, Plants provide food for many species including humans and also release oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide from atmosphere and keep it clean. Animals, on the other hand keep the population of other species in control by hunting them.

Together, they form a complete food chain and if any type of plant or animal is removed form that chain, the balance of earth will be disturbed and food will become scarce. Losing a plant specie will result in the shortage of the food that grows on it. Similarly, losing an animal specie will cause their prey to multiply in number and increase tenfold. Without that specific specie of plants, there will be excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which will cause other detrimental effects on environment.

However, there are other important environmental probelms like global warming, ozone depletion, climate change and pollution. Global warming alone is increasing the temperature of earth by 1 degree celcius every year and is a major cause of climate change. The main cause of global warming is the pollution and the ozne layer depletion. Estimates suggests that if we donot started palnning about these problems, the earth will not be a place to live in the coming 300 or 400 years.

In conclusion, both views are right but I believe that there are more severe environmental problems than losing a plant or animal specie. And if we donot divert our attention to these problems like global warming and climate change, the earth will not survive for long enough.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—the importance of preserving specific plant and animal species versus the significance of broader global environmental issues—and clearly presents a personal opinion. The writer explains how removing a species impacts the food chain and atmospheric balance, and then contrasts this with threats like global warming and climate change. Ideas are generally well supported, though some points are slightly repetitive, such as the reiteration of the consequences of losing plant and animal species. Nevertheless, the position is well maintained from the introduction through to the conclusion, satisfying the main requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a logical overall structure, with an introduction, clearly demarcated body paragraphs discussing each viewpoint in turn, and a final conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Firstly', 'On the other hand', 'Together', 'However', and 'In conclusion', to guide the reader through the arguments. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, and some transitional links feel slightly mechanical rather than entirely natural. Overall progression is clear, though closer attention to cohesive variety would elevate this area further.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'detrimental effects', 'scarce', and 'depletion'. However, there are notable spelling and word-formation errors throughout the text, including 'environment' instead of 'environmental' in the opening sentence, 'specie' used repeatedly instead of the correct singular noun 'species', 'probelms', 'celcius', 'ozne', 'suggests' instead of 'suggest', and 'palnning' instead of 'planning'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency prevents the lexical score from reaching higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating conditional structures and relative clauses (e.g., 'if any type of plant or animal is removed...', 'which will cause other detrimental effects'). There are, however, frequent grammatical and punctuation errors that affect accuracy, such as missing articles ('the atmosphere'), incorrect subject-verb agreement or tense usage ('if we donot started palnning'), and punctuation omissions. Although the meaning remains generally clear, the accumulation of grammatical inaccuracies limits the score to a solid band 6.

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.