Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14
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 era, usage of plastic has drametically increased. Evolvement of technology made itemes which has detrimental effects on environment. It can cause marine pollution, wildlife damages and many more.To control this issues goverment and resident of country should equally participate in this and help to make earth breathebale.
To commence with, use of plastic materials such as, carry bags, soft drink bottles, wrappers and packing materials have detriemental effects on earth. It can cause air pollution, marine pollutions, as well as hazardous to animals. For instance, many people damps this things nearby water body. Which ultimately, eaten by ocean animals and that cause the disease condition.Plastic do not have recycle capacity. Other than that, it affect the quality of soil. this cause damage to crops and less productivity.
On the other hand, government should focus on export and production of plastic material. Moreover, they should have some regulations on usage of this materials. To curb this situaltion, higher authority should inspect the quality of air and soil of nations.This is not only the resposibity of government but people of country have the same responsibity. Population should be aware of the disadvantages of plastic and their effects on environment as well as own health. It can cause certain types of cancer. The government take some actions to curb this situation, such as, in 2022, India has launched ban of plastic materials and correct disposal of garbage in distinct colour bag.
To recapitulate, usage of plastic material has afverse effects on health of society and damage to environment. Goverment has launched several prograames to tackle this problem. Despite all this efforts, it will not get success without the supports of residents of country.“A healthy environment is essential for a healthy life.”
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the environmental damage caused by plastic (marine pollution, soil degradation, and risks to wildlife) and potential solutions involving governments and individuals. The writer maintains a clear position throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas tends to be somewhat superficial and lacks depth. For instance, mentioning that plastic causes 'disease condition' or affects soil productivity is stated without sufficient elaboration or concrete detail. While the ideas are relevant, they are occasionally under-developed, aligning the response best with the Band 6 descriptor where all parts are addressed but some areas lack depth.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay has a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, moving logically from an introduction to the environmental impacts, then to solutions, and concluding with a summary. Cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'On the other hand', and 'To recapitulate' are used to structure the text, though some referencing and transitions are slightly mechanical or faulty, such as starting a sentence with 'Which ultimately, eaten by ocean animals'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but the logical progression between sentences is occasionally hindered by abrupt phrasing and punctuation errors. These characteristics reflect the Band 6 level for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'marine pollution', 'wildlife damages', and 'hazardous'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('drametically', 'itemes', 'breathebale', 'detriemental', 'damps', 'afverse') and word-choice inaccuracies ('recycle capacity' instead of 'recyclability', 'distinct colour bag'). While these errors are noticeable, they do not severely impede communication because the overall message remains understandable. The writer attempts less common vocabulary with mixed success, placing this performance firmly in Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, with attempts at relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is weak throughout the text. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement ('Plastic do not', 'government take'), missing articles ('usage of plastic', 'goverment and resident'), and awkward phrasing ('Evolvement of technology made itemes which has'). Punctuation and capitalization errors are also present. These frequent errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader, though the meaning can generally be deciphered, which is characteristic of a Band 5 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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