Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-17

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 5.5)

Nowadays, the usage of plastic has increased drastically. In many countries , governments has brought strict rules to decrease the use of plastic because they realized it is harmful for the environment.

To begin with, plastic is a unsustainable and non-degradable thing. It take decades for partial decomposition. When the plastic substance comes to contact with the soil will result in lose of the quality of soil. If the fertility of soil lower, it will affect cultivation and food crisis would occur. For instance , many farm land got polluted by plastic wastes and inefficient for agriculture. Moreover, burning the plastic, will cause air pollution. The gases eliminating from burned plastic substances are poisonous and it will make the air non breathable. Like this, water is also getting polluted by the plastic wastes.

However, the government and individuals can take necessary actions to reduce the use of plastic. Government could encourage the people to use renewable plastic instead of non-reusable plastics.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 250 words, reaching only 161 words. Consequently, the development of ideas is significantly curtailed. While the essay identifies environmental damage (soil and air pollution) and touches upon solutions, these points are underdeveloped. The conclusion is abrupt and lacks depth. Because the response is substantially under-length, it cannot fully address all parts of the task in the required detail, leading to a lower band score for task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'To begin with' and 'Moreover' to link ideas. However, the progression of ideas is limited by the brevity of the text. Paragraphing is present, but the final paragraph is underdeveloped, which disrupts the overall flow. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of sufficient supporting detail makes the logical progression feel mechanical rather than fluid. To improve, ensure each paragraph has a clear topic sentence followed by well-developed supporting points and examples.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. There are some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'a unsustainable' (should be 'an unsustainable') and 'gases eliminating' (should be 'gases emitted'). The range is somewhat repetitive, relying on basic terms like 'bad', 'harmful', and 'polluted'. To achieve a higher score, you should incorporate more precise, topic-specific vocabulary related to environmental science and policy, and pay closer attention to collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The essay contains several grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('governments has brought' instead of 'have brought'), article usage ('a unsustainable'), and awkward phrasing ('comes to contact with the soil will result in lose'). While there is an attempt at complex sentence structures, these are often marred by errors. The control over punctuation and sentence construction needs improvement to ensure that the majority of sentences are error-free.

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

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