Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-24

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 this contemporary era, this debatable issue has now become more controversial. Majority of society claims that main reason for enviormental problem is due to loss of specefic species like plants and animals. On the other hand plenty of people consider that it is not major issue. The issue may raise a range of arguments on both sides. I will discuss my perspective which will lead a logical conclusion. The subject is mixture of two confounding thoughts.

The first group absolutely holds that enviormental problem is one of the most issue in this era From my perspective, I would say species plays a pivotal role in our lifes especially on enviorment. We all now about importance of plants and animals and i firmly believe that these things are important assets for our generations due to fact that For example, the decline of bees and other pollinating insects can reduce the pollination of crops and wild plants, potentially affecting food production. Furthermore, many species have not yet been fully studied, so their extinction could mean losing potentially valuable sources of food, medicine or scientific knowledge. Protecting biodiversity is therefore important not only for nature but also for human society.

The second group absolutely holds that There are many serious environmental problems in the modern world. One of the most important is climate change, which is caused mainly by the increasing amount of greenhouse gases released by human activities. Another major issue is air pollution from vehicles and factories, which can harm both people and animals. Deforestation is also a serious problem because cutting down forests destroys the natural habitats of many species. In addition, water pollution caused by plastic, chemicals and industrial waste can damage marine life and make clean water difficult to obtain. Therefore, governments and individuals should take effective measures to protect the environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both views—that the loss of specific species is the main environmental problem, and that there are other more important issues—and the student provides an opinion, though it is somewhat brief in the introduction. The ideas in the body paragraphs are generally relevant and supported with examples, such as the decline of bees and the mention of climate change, deforestation, and water pollution. However, the development in the first body paragraph contains a fragmented sentence ("...due to fact that For example...") which slightly impairs the flow of thought. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, placing the response firmly at Band 6.0 according to the descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraph breaks separating the introduction, the first view, and the second view. However, there are noticeable issues with cohesion and sentence linking. For instance, the introduction relies on several short, somewhat repetitive meta-language sentences like "The issue may raise a range of arguments on both sides" and "The subject is mixture of two confounding thoughts," which feel mechanical. Additionally, referencing is occasionally faulty, such as the abrupt transition in the first body paragraph where the sentence cuts off before continuing with "For example". Cohesive devices are sometimes used awkwardly. Therefore, a score of 5.5 is appropriate for this criterion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'biodiversity', 'extinction', 'greenhouse gases', and 'deforestation'. However, there are multiple spelling errors throughout the text, including 'enviormental' instead of 'environmental', 'specefic' instead of 'specific', and 'lifes' instead of 'lives'. Furthermore, word choice and collocations are occasionally imprecise, such as 'enviormental problem is one of the most issue' instead of 'one of the most important issues'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using relative clauses ('which is caused mainly by...') and conditional elements. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, such as missing articles ('Majority of society', 'plays pivotal role'), incorrect subject-verb agreement or pluralisation ('species plays', 'enviormental problem is one of the most issue'), and an incomplete sentence structure in the first body paragraph. While the meaning remains mostly clear to the reader, the frequency of basic errors prevents the score from reaching Band 6.0, placing it securely at Band 5.5.

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