Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

In this materilistic world, things made from plastic causes a significant damage to the natural world. It should be responsibility of both government and common people to protect the environment. The upcoming paragraphs will emphasis on effects of plastic on our surroundings and also preventive measures by authorities and the citizens.

First and the foremost hazard by plastic is its decomposition. This process takes hundreds of years to degrade. As a result, it will cause water pollution since plastic mix with rivers, lakes and other water resources. Other damage is its interference with food chain. Microplastics enters into ecosystem and become a part of the food chain. Furthermore, synthetic goods are eaten by some animals and destroys our natural ecosystem as it will stay in their remains till its degradation.

Both Government and the general public should have to play an important role to tackle with this problem. The authorities should impose strict rules to encourage the use of recycled plastic bottles, bags and other products. There should be heavy fines for excessive use of plastic goods. Plastic should be banned to avoid unnecessary destruction of our surroundings. It is the responsibility of policy makers to arrange proper waste management facilities for recycling process.

The individuals can play a crucial role as well to protect our environment. people should have to limit the usage of plastic packagings. In addition, there should be separate plastic collection bins to sort it out properly so that it will not mix with the organic waste. People should have to reuse or recycle plastic products as much as they can.

In conclusion, plastic causes long-term deterimental effects to land, water, health and the ecosystem. Although government need to introduce strict policies againt the destruction of environment and proper waste management shoul be there. Individuals must also change their daily habits. A combined effort of both govenment and general public is essentail to protect planet earth for upcoming generations.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, examining both the environmental damage caused by plastic and proposing effective solutions for governments and individuals. The position is clear throughout the essay. Ideas are extended and supported well, such as explaining how microplastics enter the food chain and cause long-term destruction. For instance, the mention of decomposition taking hundreds of years and its impact on water resources directly answers the first question. The solutions section thoroughly covers policy measures like heavy fines and individual responsibilities such as using separate collection bins. However, some arguments tend toward generalisation without deeper elaboration, aligning the response with a solid Band 7 level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay displays a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, beginning with an introduction, followed by environmental impacts, government solutions, individual actions, and a clear conclusion. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'First and the foremost', 'Furthermore', and 'In addition', although some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different facets of the prompt. While referencing and referencing pronouns are generally clear, minor cohesion slips place this response comfortably at a Band 6.5 or 7.0; clear logical sequencing warrants a Band 7.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items with some awareness of style and collocation, such as 'materialistic world', 'decomposition', 'microplastics', and 'synthetic goods'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors that slightly detract from the quality, such as 'materilistic' instead of materialistic, 'causes' instead of cause, 'deterimental' misspelled as 'deterimental', and 'packagings' which is typically uncountable in this context. Despite these minor lexical inaccuracies, communication is never impeded, and the vocabulary remains adequate for a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied grammatical structures (e.g., conditional or modal structures such as 'Both Government and the general public should have to play an important role'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('things made from plastic causes', 'government need'), missing articles ('It should be responsibility'), and awkward verb forms ('should have to'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical inaccuracies persist across the text, preventing it from reaching a Band 7. The frequency and nature of these errors align well with the Band 6 descriptor.

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.