Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-02

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)

Nowadays, the use of plastic has become increasigly common. Almost everything that we puchase comes in a plastic package. This happens because, for the industries, it is the most feasible material to use. However, it is completely harmful to the enviroment and actions definitely need to be taken.

Firstly, the use of plastic can hardly damage the enviroment when it is not wasted correctly. This means that, when a plastic item is not directed to recycling, it is left in the nature, that could be the oceans, for example.

The main problem of it is that plastic takes millions of years to decompose in the nature, which can be dangerous to the animals who live there. A good example of this is the huge amount of turtles who die everyday because of the incorrect deposit of plastic staws in the sea.

Therefore, all the individuals have a big responsability to make sure the plastic trash is being deposited in recycle bins instead of general ones. This action ensures that the material will have the correct destination instead of being placed incorrectly in the nature.

Besides that, all the governments can encourage industries to use more paper or other materials which have faster decomposion time. This could be done by reducing taxes of the companies who follow these instructions. This action is already taken in a few countries, as United States for example, where many companies already use paper to produce staws, cups and bags.

In conclusion, the use of plastic brings several problems to the nature and both the individuals and the governments have key responsabilities to improve the situation and ensure a healthy enviroment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, identifying environmental damage caused by plastic and suggesting solutions for both governments and individuals. The ideas are relevant, though some development is slightly superficial. For instance, the explanation of how plastic harms animals is clear, but the discussion on government intervention could be more detailed. The position is consistent throughout the essay. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is supported with more depth or specific, nuanced examples rather than general statements. Overall, the response successfully covers the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central topic, and the progression of ideas is easy to follow. Cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Therefore', and 'Besides that' are used to link sentences and paragraphs effectively. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing could be more sophisticated to improve the flow. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the structure supports the overall argument well. The text is coherent, and the relationship between ideas is generally clear throughout the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express ideas clearly. There are some spelling errors, such as 'increasigly', 'puchase', 'enviroment', 'responsability', and 'decomposion', which occur frequently. While the range of vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, the lack of more precise or sophisticated terminology limits the score. The use of collocations is mostly accurate, but the repeated spelling mistakes and the reliance on basic vocabulary prevent a higher rating. Improving spelling accuracy and incorporating a wider range of topic-specific synonyms would significantly enhance this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical errors, such as 'left in the nature' (should be 'left in nature'), 'huge amount of turtles' (should be 'number of turtles'), and 'as United States' (should be 'such as the United States'). Punctuation is generally correct, but there are minor issues with article usage and preposition choice. The majority of sentences are understandable, and the errors do not impede communication. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles with geographical names and abstract nouns.

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