Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-01

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)

plastic bags, bottles and other from of plastic packaging have become an essential part of modern life but it cause serious environmental problem. There are a plethora of causes for situations; however there are few measures to solve this problem. Both causes and solutions will be elaborated in the essay, citing relevant examples.

Examining the reasons for environment problem caused by plastic is pollution, the most significant one is that, unlike organic materials, most plastic products take many years to break down. As a result, large amount of plastic waste accumulate in landfills, rivers and oceans. For example, as per the survey of "TIMES OF INDIA" 70% of plastic waste store in Indian ocean which is polluted to water. Furthermore, when plastic waste is burned it can release harmful gases into the atmosphere, contributing air pollution. In other words, plastic waste release harmful gases in environment and affecting the ecosystem and weather conditions.

Alternatively, there are some prevention measures to solve the given issue. The foremost is governments can introduce strict regulation to reduce the production and use of unnecessary plastic production. This means, government can apply the restriction rule to usage of plastic products. For instance, they can charge customers for plastic bags, restrict single-use plastics and encourage businesses to use biodegradable packaging. Moreover, they should increase recycling facilities and educate the public about responsible waste disposal. This is to say, they can organize awareness program to teach about environmental issue and improve recycling waste process in better way.

To conclude, it can be commented that there are many causes of plastic usage such as it will take many years to decomposed and when it can burned it will release harmful chemicals and gases. However, the strict regulation by government about the production and use of plastic products and awareness programs for people and better recycling process solve the problem.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by identifying the environmental damage caused by plastic and offering solutions from both governments and individuals. However, the development across these areas is somewhat uneven. While the second body paragraph offers solid ideas regarding government intervention such as taxes and bans, the discussion of environmental damage relies on generalisations rather than fully extended arguments, and the claim regarding the Indian Ocean lacks realistic grounding. The writer presents a clear overall position throughout the essay, but certain ideas remain slightly under-developed, placing this response firmly in the middle band for task fulfillment.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the response into introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Paragraphing is utilised correctly to separate the causes of the problem from the preventative measures. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as starting multiple sentences with 'Furthermore' or 'Alternatively,' where the latter is used incorrectly to introduce solutions rather than a contrast. Referencing and logical progression are occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing, making the flow between ideas less smooth than it could be, which reflects the characteristics of this coherence band.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common lexical items such as 'plethora,' 'biodegradable packaging,' and 'strict regulation.' However, there are notable instances of word choice and word form errors that highlight limitations, such as 'from of plastic packaging,' 'environment problem,' 'large amount of plastic waste accumulate,' and 'to decomposed.' Despite these inaccuracies, the errors do not severely impede overall communication, as the writer's core message remains understandable throughout the piece.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some capability with subordinate clauses. Nevertheless, there is a persistent presence of grammatical errors, particularly involving verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and missing articles. Examples include 'it cause serious environmental problem,' '70% of plastic waste store,' 'when it can burned it will release,' and 'solve the problem' instead of 'can solve the problem.' These errors occur across a variety of structures and occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, placing the grammatical performance just below the mid-level threshold due to frequent minor structural slips.

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