Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-01

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 6.0)

Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are major problems to damage environment. Both the government and people have responsibilities to solve this lasticproblems.

One of the main effect of plastic bags, bottles and packaging is pollution. They can cause damage at dangerous level. Plastic contains many types of chemicals and harmful substances so when we burn them it can produce harmful gas in the air. This makes the breathing difficult causing many deaths. Other cause is that when people throw garbage in the river or sea, it contaminates the water. That is why, it affect the life of fishes and any other creatures of water. Garbage can cause smell in the area, flies and mosquitos are around them.

Plastic things can cause different diseases including flue, typhoid, nervous disorders and stomach problems.

Government can solve this problem by working for their country. By taking different measures, stopping people to reduce using plastic things and should not throw them in river. If the people's do not obey the rule,they have to pay fine at any such mistakes.

Peoples can also solve this problem by keeping their environment clean. They can reduce plastic things and use other material instead of plastic. It can save their life and mankind.

Once time my friend threw plastic bottle on road and then a police action happened on him. He has to pay fine for that.

In conclusion, plastic have different effects and can cause deaths of innocent peoples. Both the government and people should have to maintain their environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the environmental damage caused by plastic and the potential solutions from governments and individuals. However, the development of these ideas is quite limited. For instance, the discussion on health impacts is somewhat disjointed, and the solutions provided are rather generic, such as 'working for their country' or 'keeping their environment clean.' To reach a higher band, you should provide more specific examples or elaborate on the mechanisms of the solutions (e.g., how a plastic tax or a recycling infrastructure would function). The position is clear, but the supporting arguments lack depth and analytical detail.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite basic and sometimes repetitive. Phrases like 'One of the main effect' and 'Other cause is that' are used to transition, but the flow between sentences is often mechanical. There is a lack of sophisticated linking words to connect ideas more fluidly. Additionally, some referencing is unclear, such as 'working for their country' which does not clearly link back to the specific problem of plastic pollution. Improving the variety of transition signals would significantly enhance the logical flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite simple and repetitive. You frequently use basic terms like 'plastic things' and 'bad.' There are also some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'major problems to damage environment' (should be 'major causes of environmental damage') and 'police action happened on him' (should be 'he was fined by the police'). To improve, you should aim to use more precise terminology related to environmental science and policy, and work on using collocations more accurately to convey your meaning with greater precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures. While there are attempts at complex sentences, they often contain grammatical errors, such as 'If the people's do not obey the rule,they have to pay fine at any such mistakes.' Subject-verb agreement is frequently problematic (e.g., 'plastic have different effects', 'people's do not obey'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction and subject-verb agreement before attempting more complex structures. Reducing the frequency of these errors is essential for clarity and to move into a higher band.

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