Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-06

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 6.0)

Nowadays, plastic makes the environment more dangerous and unsuitable for people to live in. It creates a lot of hazards to the environment that leads a lot of risks to the world that I have been discussed in the upcoming paragraph along with some suitable measures taken by government and individuals.

To begin with, plastic things can give harmful effects on the present environment. The first and the foremost is damaging the lakes of the city because people throw garbage such as plastic bags, bottle and other materials in the rivers and lakes, which polluted the water of rivers. To exemplify, a person throws their household garbage that includes plastic into water and river, it will pollute the whole lake and block the drainage. Secondly, plastic bags and bottles are non degradable which destroy the soil fertility. Therefore, it will create soil erosion and flood risk.

Moving towards their suitable measures that are taken by government and individuals. Government should ban the use of plastics in the country to reduce the risks to environment because it will help them to regulate the water cycle in the atmosphere. For example, authorities should ban and introduce fine to those who use the plastic thins for daily basis, this will help them to make the environment free from plastic things. In addition to this, individuals should the create awareness among the society by doing seminars as it will help them to minimise the usage of plastic bags and bottles. Therefore, this will help them to get a little control over the effects of plastic on enviornment.

In the conclusion, I would like to say plastic is very dangerous for the enviornment and creates a lot of difficulties for the nature. People find difficulties to get pure water and air to survive in the world. Thus, government should introduce environmental laws and take suitable measures to minimise the usage of plastic in the country to help them make the environment green and healthy for the people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: the environmental damage caused by plastic and the potential solutions. However, the development of ideas is somewhat repetitive and lacks depth. For instance, the discussion on water pollution is quite general, and the solutions provided—such as 'doing seminars'—are somewhat vague. While the position is clear throughout, the arguments could be better supported with more specific, nuanced examples rather than repeating the same points about 'plastic bags and bottles'. To reach a higher band, ensure that each point is fully extended with clear reasoning and concrete evidence.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into clear paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'To begin with', 'Secondly', and 'In addition to this', though some are used mechanically or slightly incorrectly (e.g., 'Moving towards their suitable measures'). There is some repetition in the linking phrases, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the use of 'them' in the third paragraph, which does not clearly refer back to a specific noun. Improving the variety and precision of cohesive devices would enhance the flow of the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. The student relies on basic terms like 'plastic things', 'bad', and 'dangerous'. There are also some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'plastic thins' (likely a typo for 'things') and 'regulate the water cycle in the atmosphere', which is not a logical consequence of banning plastic. Spelling errors, such as 'enviornment', also appear. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise academic vocabulary and ensuring correct collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('plastic things can give harmful effects', 'it will pollute... and block') and awkward phrasing ('that I have been discussed'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are issues with sentence boundaries and comma usage. While the meaning is usually clear, the frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the essay from reaching a higher band. Focusing on sentence construction and proofreading for basic errors would be beneficial.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.