Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-23

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, environmental pollution is becoming major issue among the population and marine life due to increasing use of plastic bags and bottles. This essay will discuss the problems of this trend and possible solutions in the upcoming paragraphs.

To begin with excessive use of plastic bags, bottles and packeging can cause water and land pollution. Firstly, after using bags, bottles and straws, people throw them away. It accomulate in landfill, streets and ocean, which can be harmful for the society. It not only make water polluted,

but also cause diseases to individuals. As it breakdown in small particles and can enter in foodchain. This kind of problem can cause some serious health issues, such as breathing difficulties. Secondly, use of plastic bags can cause difficulties for marine life. To elaborate, animals like fish and turtle may eat it and get seriously injured or potential death.

However, this kind of obsactles needs immediate attention. The main and most important step Government should ban the plastic products. People who still using the plastic material should be charged for that, so other population can learn lesson from that. Moreover, officials should organize campaigns in schools and local communities. Either people can learn safe ways to compose it, or they should use reusable products, such as refillable bottles or cups.

To be concluded, there are numerous problems of plastic usage, which can cause serious issues to individuals and marine life. These issues can be solved if government banned plastic products.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt, discussing the environmental damage caused by plastic (pollution, health issues, marine life injury) and proposing solutions involving governments and individuals. However, the ideas are somewhat underdeveloped and lack depth in specific examples. Furthermore, the length check indicates that the response contains 249 words, narrowly missing the 250-word minimum requirement. Consequently, a slight penalty is applied under Task Achievement for failing to reach the minimum word count, which limits the thoroughness of the explanation. Despite these limitations, a clear position is maintained throughout the essay. Because of the under-length penalty and under-developed support, the score reflects a Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, following an introduction, body paragraphs for problems and solutions, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'To begin with', 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'However'. However, some transitions and referencing are slightly mechanical or awkward, as seen in 'As it breakdown in small particles and can enter in foodchain'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate distinct ideas, ensuring an overall coherent arrangement that allows the reader to follow the train of thought without excessive difficulty. These features align comfortably with Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'environmental pollution', 'marine life', 'landfill', and 'reusable products'. However, there are several lexical errors and misspellings throughout the text, including 'packeging' instead of packaging, 'accomulate' instead of accumulate, 'obsactles' instead of obstacles, and 'compose' instead of compost. Word choice and collocations are occasionally imprecise, such as 'potential death' instead of potential fatalities or death. Despite these noticeable errors and limitations, communication is not severely impeded, making this performance representative of Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'plastic bags, bottles and packeging can cause', 'It accomulate', 'It not only make water polluted', and 'government banned' instead of governments should ban. Preposition errors also occur, such as 'enter in foodchain'. While complex structures are attempted, they are often faulty, and errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader. These characteristics firmly position the grammar at a Band 5.5 level.

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.