Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-12

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)

The use of plastic is increasing everyday, since it is very durable and lasting. Many individuals believe that using things made from plastic like bottles, bags, packages, etc. has severe effects on over environment. I am going to explain the problems it cause to environment and steps taken by governments and individuals in order to mitigate this problem in the upcoming paragraphs.

To begin with, the first and foremost reason for bad effect on environment is that there is no other way to dissolve plastic neither in land nor in waterbodies. To explain, there are lots of plastics material buried in land and dispose in sea as well for many years. Even after that, the plastic is still there in same which led to land or water pollutions. Its not only affect on land's nutritions but also its affect on marine life. Also, if we burn plastics to compose ,it exhales carbon dioxide which resulted in air pollution and green house effect.

In order to resolve this, the government should make strict rules and regulations on plastic uses. They should banned use of plastic bottles and bags. Also, they should impose some rules on manufacturing companies as well for recycling plastic instead of making new plastic every-time. Also, individuals can take many steps to avoid this problems by using paper bags or other bags while they are going out for shopping. Unlike using disposable water bottles, they should buy glass bottles or reusable ones. Therefore, these steps help to reduce pollution to the environment happening through uses of plastic.

In conclusion, although the more use of plastic bags or bottles are affecting severely to the environment, the solutions can be taken by government and individuals in terms of recycling or reusing it and by banning it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the environmental damage caused by plastic and proposing viable solutions for governments and individuals. The introduction clearly outlines the intention to discuss these areas, and the body paragraphs tackle the specific prompts with relevant ideas. However, the development of ideas lacks full elaboration and depth in places. For instance, the explanation of how plastic affects land nutrition and marine life is a bit brief and could be extended with more specific examples. There are also occasional over-generalizations. Overall, the response meets the core requirements of Task Achievement well, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, the causes of environmental damage, government and individual solutions, and the conclusion. Cohesive devices are used throughout the text, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of "Also" and "To begin with." Referencing is generally clear, but occasional minor lapses in logical progression occur, such as the awkward transition between discussing plastic disposal and air pollution from burning. Despite these minor issues, the logical flow is maintained sufficiently to follow the writer's arguments, warranting a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like "durable," "mitigate," "pollutions," and "disposable." However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the response, such as "over environment" instead of "our environment," "dispose in sea" instead of "disposed of in the sea," and "still there in same" which impairs natural phrasing. Spelling and word formation errors also appear, such as "green house" instead of "greenhouse." These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating clauses introduced by "since," "although," and "if we burn plastics." However, control over complex structures is inconsistent, leading to frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as "the plastic is still there in same which led to land or water pollutions" and "the solutions can be taken by government and individuals in terms of recycling." Punctuation and articles are also prone to errors, such as missing articles and incorrect prepositions. These errors can cause occasional difficulty for the reader, placing this response firmly at Band 5.5.

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