Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-09
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)
In this contemporary world, good atmosphere is beneficial for human being. There are several root cause of plastic bags, plastic canes and plastic packing are bad for environment. However, a few remedies could be offered to resolve the situation to a large extent. Both the reasons and the measures are elaborated further.
Examining the reasons, the most common is that plastic bags are more cheaper and affordable. This is because people can carry lots of things in bags have no cost. For example, in many stores sell lots of their products with free branded carry bag because off their benefits. Moreover, the other cause is packing food contains lots of health risks. Human being eating lots of packing food in their daily life cause lots of diseases such as heart attack, cancer and so on.
On the contrary, the combat the issue, some productive steps can help to overcome to large extent. The foremost one is that people can use paper bags rather than plastic bags for their daily routine. For instance, people can go grocery and shopping malls to carry their own paper bags or clothing bags for things. Besides this, people can avoid using packaging products for their daily use. They can do organic farming and planting fruits in their gardens in order to become healthy.
To conclude, although there are several issues due to plastic bags and plastic bottles are bad for our environment. But taking steps such as government banned plastic bags and planting trees can solve the problem to a large extent.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
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 development of ideas is limited. For instance, the explanation of environmental damage focuses primarily on health risks from food packaging rather than the broader ecological impact (e.g., marine life, pollution, or microplastics). The solutions provided, such as 'organic farming,' are somewhat tangential to the core issue of plastic waste management. While the position is clear, the arguments lack depth and specific supporting evidence, leading to an under-developed response that stays at the lower end of the band scale.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. Phrases like 'On the contrary, the combat the issue' are grammatically awkward and do not effectively signal a transition. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the logical progression within paragraphs is occasionally disrupted by disjointed sentences. While the essay is readable, the lack of sophisticated linking words and the repetitive nature of the sentence structure hinder the flow of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. The student relies on basic terms such as 'bad,' 'things,' and 'lots of.' There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'plastic canes' (likely meaning bottles/containers) and 'packing food' (instead of 'packaged food'). The range is insufficient to express complex ideas with precision. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the lack of variety and the frequent misuse of terms prevent the response from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but these are frequently marred by grammatical errors. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('There are several root cause'), article usage ('the government banned'), and sentence fragments or run-on sentences. For example, 'But taking steps such as government banned plastic bags...' is a sentence fragment that lacks a main verb. These errors are frequent and occasionally require the reader to re-read to understand the intended meaning.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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