Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-07-27

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 7.0)

Plastics have detrimental effects on the environment. Plastics ranging from plastic bags, bottles and packaging causes destruction to the soil and marine life.

When these plastics are not properly disposed or recycled, they cause destruction to the soil. These plastics damage the nutrients available in the soil. A soil without nutrients cannot grow crops. When crops are not readily available it causes famine and death. Plastics in the environment also causes a depletion in the ozone layer. The ozone layer functions to absorb the ultraviolet rays entering the earth. The ultraviolet rays destroy the soil and is the leading cause of skin cancer in the world today. Furthermore, there is also a destruction to marine life, if plastics are not properly disposed. Some individuals tend to dispose these plastics anywhere, from the land to even water bodies. Once these plastics enter water bodies, it can pollute the water and lead to deprivation of oxygen in the water. When oxygen do not get to these marine lives, these suffer suffocation and die. For instance, disposing of plastics into saltwater bodies, causes death to the fishes available in that water body.

In order to prevent or solve the problems of plastics in our environment, individuals and government bodies need to work together. Individuals should learn to recycle their plastics instead of disposing them inappropriately. Individuals who own fast-food business should find alternative to using plastic packaging. They can opt for wooden materials instead. Government should also create laws against wrongful plastic disposal and sanctions for offenders. This will help reduce disposing plastics wrongfully. Government bodies should also work with advertisement companies to announce to citizens of the dangers of wrongful plastic disposal. For instance, an eye catching few minutes talk show can be organized and this aims to teach people the dangers and ways to dispose plastics appropriately.

In conclusion, plastics are detrimental to the environment, it causes damage to the soil and death to marine life. Government and individuals should work together to curtail the dangers of inappropriate plastic disposal.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, identifying environmental damage and proposing solutions for both governments and individuals. The ideas are relevant, such as soil nutrient depletion and marine suffocation. However, the development is somewhat uneven; for instance, the claim that plastic causes ozone layer depletion is scientifically inaccurate and detracts from the quality of the argument. While the solutions provided are practical, they could be extended with more specific examples or deeper analysis to reach a higher band. The position is clear throughout, and the structure follows a logical progression that covers the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each with a distinct focus. There is a clear progression of ideas from the problems to the solutions. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Furthermore', 'In order to', and 'In conclusion', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are a bit mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive (e.g., 'these plastics' is used frequently). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different sections of the response, contributing to the overall coherence of the essay.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary such as 'detrimental', 'depletion', and 'sanctions'. However, the range is somewhat limited, and there are instances of slightly unnatural word choices or collocations, such as 'deprivation of oxygen' (instead of 'depletion') and 'wrongful plastic disposal' (instead of 'improper'). While the meaning is always clear, the vocabulary lacks the sophistication and precision required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'plastics... causes', 'oxygen do not get', 'these suffer') and article usage. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. The punctuation is generally correct, but the sentence variety could be improved by incorporating more complex subordinating clauses to demonstrate better control over grammatical range.

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