Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-03
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 use of materials made with plastics increasing rapidly. These plastic based things like bottles,packaging and bags etc. causing environment pollution like soil polution and killing of nature's living creature.However, these can be address with the help of policies and people's responsibility.Which will be explaine below.
To commence with, plastic materials damaging soil and harming animals. to elaborate this, these materials do not dissolve in soil and it kills the the essential elements of soil which is usefull for its fertility power.Which create troubles for farmers to grow the food.Moreover, Many animals like cow,rabbit,dog etc. eats these materials, whic leads them to near the death after it causing many stomach issues to these creatures.For instance,In India the fertility of soul decrease from eighty to fifty percent in last decades. which is generating issue to meet with food demand of public.
However,there are several ways to adderess this issue by introducing new rules over use of plastic bags. to explain, higher authorties should take action over peoples on using plastic materials by putting fines. which creates fear between societies. Secondly, individuals should take responsibilty to decrease the usage of it which will put a great impact to save nature. Peoples should have use handmade or organic products .This will directly decline the use of plastic. For example, In 2016, USA has banned this artificial materials and within decade none of the USA citizen is using the plastic products.
To conclude, there are several issues is arrising due to plastic,Neverthless, this can be fix by posing heavy fine and individuals should use handmade or disposable products which will save the environment
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, identifying environmental damage and suggesting solutions for both governments and individuals. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For example, the claim that the USA banned all plastic and that no citizens use it is factually inaccurate and lacks logical support, which weakens the argument. While the response covers the required points, the supporting examples are often underdeveloped or rely on generalizations. To improve, ensure that your arguments are grounded in realistic scenarios and provide more detailed explanations for the proposed solutions.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear focus. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical and sometimes inaccurate. For instance, phrases like 'To commence with' and 'To elaborate this' are used, but the flow between sentences is frequently interrupted by punctuation errors and awkward phrasing. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the use of 'it' without a clear antecedent in some sentences. Improving the variety and accuracy of linking words would help the essay flow more naturally and improve the overall coherence.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. There are several instances of word-choice errors and non-standard collocations, such as 'fertility power' instead of 'soil fertility' and 'nature's living creature' instead of 'wildlife'. Spelling errors are also frequent, including 'polution', 'usefull', 'authorties', and 'arrising'. While the meaning is generally clear, the limited range of vocabulary and the recurring spelling mistakes restrict the score in this criterion.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('Many animals... eats'), incorrect verb forms ('Which will be explaine'), and missing articles. Punctuation is also problematic, with many sentences starting with lowercase letters after a period or lacking proper spacing after commas. While the writer attempts complex structures, the high frequency of basic grammatical errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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