Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-16

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)

It is true that these days items or packaging made from plastic is a disaster for environment. The poly bags as well as bottles create hurdle in evolution of surrounding and harm the life cycle of ecology. There are some steps government should take with the help of individual to save the earth.

There are some bad impact of using plastic bottles, bags, and packaging on our environment. Firstly, items made of plastic atre not dissolve in soil. So, if someone throw the plastic made items on soil then these items are not vanished with water and cows and other animals eat it. After that they face problem related to blockage of breath pipe an d died. As a result, human life and animal life is affected with the plastic. Secondly, people throw bottles and wrapers in sea, lakes and canals which also impact marine life. Finally, items are packed in plastic bags which create toxic chemicals in food items even in water bottles. If prople consume these then they face serious health problems. For example cancer.

There are some remedies to come out from this problem with the help of authority and public. Government should organize seminars to aware people towards the bad impact of usage of plastic. Thus people know about the exact reason and the damage made by plastic. Moreover, individual can aware society by make videos and share it on social media. So, the people who are unaware about this disaster can take remedies and not use this harmful items and save environment. Government should ban plastic items and conduct fines who use plastic items and tell people to use the paper bags instead of it. As a consequence, no one use the plastic items or bottles and our environment can be save.

In coclusion, with the help of officials and people some steps can save our

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing the environmental damage caused by plastic and offering solutions from both governments and individuals. The student presents clear ideas regarding land and marine pollution, toxic chemicals in food, and actionable solutions like banning plastics and spreading awareness on social media. However, some ideas are somewhat repetitive and lack full academic development. For instance, the discussion on animal ingestion and toxic chemicals could be expanded with more precise details or well-structured examples rather than brief statements. Despite these limitations in depth, the student successfully covers the requirements of the prompt and maintains a recognizable position throughout the text, aligning well with the Band 6 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, separating the introduction, body paragraphs on damage and solutions, and an unfinished conclusion. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Moreover', but their usage is occasionally mechanical or awkward, as seen in phrases like 'There are some bad impact' or 'In coclusion'. Referencing is generally clear, though paragraph transitions could be smoother. The progression of ideas is logical, moving from problems to solutions, but the abrupt end of the final sentence ('with the help of officials and people some steps can save our') points to an issue with completion and control over structural flow, placing this essay firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, including terms like 'ecosystem' (implied via 'ecology'), 'marine life', 'toxic chemicals', and 'social media'. However, there are notable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices throughout the text, such as 'disaster for environment' instead of 'disaster for the environment', 'poly bags', 'atre not dissolve', and 'conduct fines' instead of 'impose fines'. Spelling errors such as 'wrapers' and 'coclusion' also occur. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, the frequency of word choice errors and limited flexibility restrict the score to Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures are frequently flawed. Examples of grammatical errors include 'items or packaging made from plastic is' (subject-verb agreement), 'items made of plastic atre not dissolve', 'animals eat it ... died', and 'prople consume these then they face'. Punctuation and article usage are also inconsistent. While some sentences are correct and communication is rarely completely impeded, the high density of basic grammatical errors across the text prevents the essay from reaching Band 6.

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