Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-14

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are bad for the environment.

What damage does plastic do to the environment?

What can be done by governments and individuals to solve this problem?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

Student answer (Band 6.5)

Pollution has become a major concern in modern society. Plastic bags, bottles and plastic packaging are harmful for our surroundings. The excessive use of plastic can lead to various type of environmental pollution and threaten marine inhabitants. In this essay, I will discuss the damage that plastic cause to the environment and suggest the solutions that government or an individual can take.

To begin with, due to the more use of plastic bags for the packaging contributes to the environmental pollution. This is because plastic takes long time to decompose and often accumulates in landfills, river and oceans. Furthermore, when authorities make a fire in a designated bin area it release harmful gases and creates air pollution. When plastic waste enters rivers and oceans, marine animals may accidentally swallow it or become trapped in it. For example, sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and swallow them. This can block their digestive systems and may eventually lead to their death. Therefore, excessive plastic consumption poses a serious threat to marine life and creates air pollution as well.

To solve this problem, I strongly believe that government should run social awareness camps and educate society related to the potential danger occur with the use of plastic bottles, bags and packaging. In addition to this, individuals should also take initiate to use alternatives rather than plastic bags and opt for recycled water bottles.

In conclusion, plastic impacts our overall surroundings and very dangerous for marine inhabitants. However, If we take curated measures these problems will be reduced and people's life span will also increase.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the task and maintain a clear focus on plastic pollution. The environmental damage is explained with relevant details: plastic persists in landfills and waterways, can release harmful gases when burned, and threatens marine animals; the turtle example supports this point effectively. However, the solutions are less fully developed. Awareness campaigns and alternatives such as reusable bottles are relevant, but the government’s role is limited to education, and the individual actions could be more specific. Explain how measures such as restricting single-use plastics, improving recycling, or changing everyday habits would reduce the damage. This would make the response more balanced and develop the ideas more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph explaining environmental harm, a paragraph on solutions, and a conclusion. Ideas generally progress logically, and linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “For example,” and “In conclusion” help guide the reader. The cause-and-effect explanation of plastic entering waterways and harming turtles is especially easy to follow. Some connections are less smooth, however. The opening sentence of the first body paragraph is awkwardly constructed, and the solutions paragraph moves quickly from government awareness campaigns to individual choices without explaining their relationship. Develop that transition and use referencing more precisely so that each point connects clearly to the one before it.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “decompose,” “landfills,” “marine animals,” “digestive systems,” and “recycled water bottles.” These choices make the main ideas clear, and the turtle example is expressed with relevant environmental language. There are also some inaccurate or unnatural word combinations, such as “various type of environmental pollution,” “make a fire,” “educate society related to,” and “take initiate.” “Curated measures” is also not a natural phrase in this context. These attempts show a willingness to use more specific vocabulary, but greater control of collocation and word forms is needed. Choose more natural expressions and check that each phrase fits its intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentences, including a conditional structure in “when plastic waste enters rivers and oceans” and a relative clause in “which can block their digestive systems.” Most meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors occur. For example, “various type” needs plural agreement, “plastic cause” should agree with its subject, and “it release” needs a singular verb form. The sentence beginning “due to the more use of plastic bags” is also structurally incomplete because the “due to” phrase is not connected correctly to the main clause. There are occasional article and punctuation issues as well. Review subject–verb agreement and sentence construction, especially when using introductory clauses, while continuing to vary your sentence forms.

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.