Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-22

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 6.5)

Undoubtedly, handling a plastic material has become a difficult task for authorities all over the world. It is argued that for packaging, bags and bottles that are made from plastic put harmful impact on environment. This problem has numerous reasons, as this material is hard to recycle, emits pollution while burning and has long degradation time. Since this obstacle has several causes, this essay will explain its suitable solution to control it.

To begin with damage, the major damage for environment is this type of material takes hundred or thousand of year to degrade naturally. Neither it is safe to burning manually as it produces dangerous gases, nor burying underground this way it decreases soil fertility. Additionally, it can stay as it in sea for long period of time, then puts various sea species on threat. For instance, A blog written by Mr. Richard Brown the reporter from CNN in 2019, highlighted the fact that nearly 40% sea turtle die every year as they stuck in plastic made bottles. He further emphasized that owing to this many sea turtle species are on the verge of extinction.

Although, through many ways it has dangerous effects to sea life and human life, but with suitable techniques this hurdle can be solved. Primarily, individuals should reuse plastic made things as much as possible and think twice before throwing it, because it does not have any environment friendly recycle method. Secondly, government should put strict ban on plastic bags and allow only paper made or cloth made bag or other material which are eco-friendly. For example, in 2021 Australia banned plastic bags on public placed like supermarkets, beaches and so on and it showed positive sign. As, the whales which were under a threat before 2021, now good in numbers in this regions.

To sum up, it is concluded that the damage plastic do to the environment are serious as it impact sea life, soil and air negatively, however with reusing it more and banning on busy places this problem can be solved.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, identifying environmental damage and proposing solutions for governments and individuals. The ideas are relevant and generally well-supported, such as the mention of soil fertility and sea life. However, the development is somewhat uneven; the explanation of the government's role is more convincing than the individual's role. While the position is clear throughout, some arguments could be extended further to reach a higher band. For instance, the link between individual reuse and the global scale of the problem is a bit simplistic. Overall, the response meets the requirements of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the damage from the solutions. Cohesive devices are present, such as 'To begin with,' 'Additionally,' and 'To sum up,' which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or awkward, such as 'Since this obstacle has several causes, this essay will explain its suitable solution to control it.' Referencing is generally clear, though there are minor issues with flow between sentences. The progression of ideas is logical, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be more fluid.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the student to convey their ideas clearly. There is an attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'degradation,' 'soil fertility,' and 'extinction.' However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'handling a plastic material' (instead of 'managing plastic waste'), 'burning manually' (instead of 'incineration'), and 'stay as it in sea' (instead of 'remain in the ocean'). These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the range and precision of the language used. More variety and more natural collocations would improve the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'put harmful impact on environment' (missing articles), 'takes hundred or thousand of year' (pluralization errors), and 'banning on busy places' (incorrect preposition usage). There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage (e.g., 'the damage plastic do'). While these errors are noticeable, they rarely prevent the reader from understanding the intended message. To improve, the student should focus on article usage and consistent verb forms.

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