Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-01

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 6.0)

The degradation of environment is happened due to various issues and problems caused by human activities. The loss of particular species of plants and animals is also a major factor in the modern environmental problems. However, I think that there are lots of other issues which have a larger impact in the environmental problems.

The loss of particular species of plants and animals directly cause imbalance in the ecosystem of nature and earth. It can have multiple downstream effects. For example, the loss of animals like tigers and lions contributes to the overpopulation of animals like deers and wild cows in a forest which has a limited amount of resources to feed such animals and this overpopulation cause a imbalance in the forest and its ecosystem. Simliar is true for the various species of plants whose absence can lead to degradation of resources in a forest.

However, lots of other significant environmental problems also do exist for example carbon emissions, deforestation, noise pollution, et cetera. Carbon emissions and deforestation make the global warming more worse. Noise pollution has many adversarial effects to the health of living beings.

In my opinion, carbon emissions and deforestation are the biggest culprits of major environmental problems. It directly cause global warming and global warming is the root cause of most natural disasters. Global warming alters the monsoon pattern across regions which causes disasters like floods, droughts, and landslides. The glaciers are melting due to global warming which is raising the ocean levels. We may lose a very large chunk of our arable land due to rising sea levels. Deforestation also works as a catalyst in this process. Hence, we are seeing more and more consenus being happening among the world leaders to reduce the carbon emissions and many countries are targetting to become a carbon neutral nation in next few decades.

To summarise, there is no single reason for the environmental problems but certain problems like carbon emissions and deforestation have a significant impact in the environmental degradation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by discussing both views—the loss of specific species and other major environmental problems—while providing a clear personal opinion. Your position is maintained throughout the essay. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others, which places the response at this level. For instance, the discussion on biodiversity loss in the second paragraph introduces relevant examples regarding tigers and deer, but the explanation remains somewhat repetitive and lacks deeper analysis. Conversely, your discussion on carbon emissions and deforestation is better extended with concrete examples such as shifting monsoon patterns and rising sea levels. To move towards higher bands, every main idea needs to be fully elaborated with equal depth and sophisticated supporting arguments, avoiding repetitive phrasing when illustrating points.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from introducing the topic to examining biodiversity, alternative problems, and finally your personal stance. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct themes, and you employ basic cohesive devices such as 'However', 'For example', and 'To summarise' to guide the reader. Nevertheless, cohesion is at times mechanical or somewhat repetitive, particularly with transitions like 'In my opinion' and 'For example'. Referencing is generally clear, but some sentences are bound together rigidly. To achieve a higher standard, you should integrate a wider variety of cohesive devices more flexibly, ensuring that relationships between sentences and paragraphs feel entirely natural rather than formulaic.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used provides an adequate range for the task, allowing you to communicate your main ideas about the environment clearly. You attempt less common vocabulary such as 'degradation', 'downstream effects', and 'arable land'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, writing 'degradation of environment is happened' or stating that overpopulation 'cause a imbalance' demonstrates awkward phrasing. Additionally, expressions like 'make the global warming more worse' contain collocation errors. To improve your lexical score, you need to refine your control over word forms, avoid redundancy, and use less common lexical items with greater precision and stylistic awareness.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms throughout the essay, utilizing subordinate clauses effectively in sentences such as 'Global warming alters the monsoon pattern across regions which causes disasters...' However, there are several grammatical errors present, particularly with verb forms, passive constructions, and article usage. For instance, 'is happened' is an incorrect passive structure, and you missed articles or pluralization in phrases like 'cause a imbalance' and 'consenus being happening'. Despite these errors, they rarely impede communication and your meaning remains clear. To reach a higher band, you should aim for a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and exercise tighter control over subject-verb agreement and prepositions.

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