Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-07

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 5.0)

Firstly, plastic bags, bottles, and even packaging is very harmful for everyone specially to our environment, animals etc.

There are lot of disadvantages of using plastic in everyday life such as

- Plastic never gets dissolve easily if you throw it away sometimes animals eat and die.

- Plastic cannot be burn it someone tries this plastic create different harmful gases which harm our environment while going in air and water.

To exemplify, in Delhi,India there is one mountain of plastic garbage which cannot be recycled or dissolve because it is very harmful for the environment and you cannot go near this "plastic mountain" because it smells so bad and doctors also says that in a research the closest town as lot of patients of cancer because of this plastic area.

Moving further, to the solutions that higher authorities should apply in there countries such as following-

-They should bring reusable bags to the market and also make mandatory to every shop owner to use these bags only.

-Government should ban all these plastic products from all over the country.

-There should be a fine on a local public and shop owners of around 250 dollars if they continue using plastic bags or packaging.

To conclude, usage of plastic is very dangerous to our environment and even for our health because from plastic we can face dangerous cancer and skin related problems. I also suggest everyone to use reusable bags for daily use to protect our environment

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the environmental damage caused by plastic and potential solutions. However, the essay is slightly under the 250-word minimum, which impacts the development of ideas. While the example of the 'plastic mountain' in Delhi is relevant, the explanation of solutions is somewhat simplistic. The ideas are generally relevant but lack the depth required for a higher band. The position is clear, but the overall development is limited by the brevity of the response and the lack of a formal structure, such as a clear introduction and conclusion.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay uses bullet points, which is not appropriate for formal IELTS writing tasks; paragraphs should be used instead. While there is a logical progression from the problem to the solution, the use of cohesive devices is mechanical and limited. For example, 'Moving further' and 'To exemplify' are used, but the transitions between sentences are often abrupt. The paragraphing is non-standard, and the overall structure lacks the sophistication expected at higher levels. The ideas are generally easy to follow, but the lack of formal paragraphing hinders the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks range and precision. There is repetition of basic terms like 'plastic', 'harmful', and 'environment'. Some word choices are inaccurate, such as 'never gets dissolve' (should be 'does not dissolve') and 'cannot be burn' (should be 'cannot be burned'). There is little evidence of less common lexical items or idiomatic language. To improve, you should focus on using more precise terminology related to environmental science and avoiding repetitive phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'plastic... is very harmful... specially to our environment', 'Plastic cannot be burn', and 'the closest town as lot of patients'. There is a lack of complex sentence structures, and the control over basic grammar, such as subject-verb agreement and verb forms, is inconsistent. Punctuation is also problematic, particularly with the use of bullet points and run-on sentences. A greater focus on sentence variety and proofreading for basic errors is necessary.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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