Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-03

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)

Manufacturers and retailers relay on plastic due to cheaper production and durablility in terms of packaging items. Overall usage of plastic in all form are causing adverse effect on environment by polluting air, water and land. This essay will outline the necessary should be taken by government and people to solve this issue.

Majority of packed foods and soda bottles are primarily made of plastic. People near by beaches and rivers gather for leisure activties, loiter plastic wastes. These plastic wastes are non dissolvable and a direct threat to aquatic lives. Some species under water try to consume those waste as well as it get wraps around their body which restrict movement which take their lives in both case. Individuals should properly recycle those waste strictly in a dustbin and government should employee a worker to clean such bay areas with high traffic of poeple and enforce heavy fines on an individual who fail to maintain cleanliness.

Plastic waste takes more than millions years to decompose under the ground. It pollutes land along with threating life of species like earthworms living under the soil. Earthworms help farmers to kill insects occuring in the farm to maximize production of crop. Industries should replace plastic with a polymer that is easily decomposable under the land within short time and causing least pollution. Also, individual should maximize the usage of paper bags and paper packaging as it is equally cheaper and not bad for environment.

In conclusion, there are plenty of ways that can mitigate the usage of plastic causing bad effects of environment. Individuals and goverments should take steps together to elimiate the issue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing the damage plastic causes to the environment and outlining solutions for both governments and individuals. The score of six point five is achieved because while all prompt requirements are covered, some ideas lack sufficient extension. For example, the impact on earthworms is mentioned briefly with the phrase 'threating life of species like earthworms living under the soil', but this is not fully developed compared to the aquatic life section. Similarly, the solution involving industries replacing plastic with polymers is introduced without strong supporting details. To reach the next level, the writer needs to fully develop every main idea with extended explanations and more robust examples throughout all body paragraphs.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, moving logically from an introduction to environmental damage, solutions regarding water bodies, land pollution solutions, and a final conclusion. The score reflects a reliable organizational structure, but cohesion is occasionally mechanical or faulty. For instance, the transition between sentences in the second paragraph relies on repetitive structures like 'These plastic wastes' and 'Some species under water'. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'which take their lives in both case', where the pronoun reference is slightly confused. To improve, the writer should employ a wider and more natural variety of cohesive devices and ensure referencing is consistently precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to use less common items such as 'adversely effect', 'non dissolvable', and 'decomposable'. However, there are noticeable lexical resource limitations and errors in word choice, collocation, and spelling. Examples include 'relay' instead of 'rely', 'durablility' instead of 'durability', 'activties' instead of 'activities', and 'poeple' instead of 'people'. The phrase 'employee a worker' is also awkward in collocation terms, as governments typically 'employ' workers. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical range, reduce spelling errors, and demonstrate greater precision in word choice and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response contains a limited range of grammatical structures with frequent errors that occasionally impede smooth reading. The writer attempts some complex sentences, but these frequently contain structural and agreement errors, such as 'necessary should be taken by government' where a noun or relative clause is missing, and 'an individual who fail' where subject-verb agreement fails. There are also persistent issues with prepositions and articles, as seen in 'on environment' instead of 'to the environment' and 'under the land' instead of 'in the soil'. To move up, the writer needs to demonstrate a greater variety of error-free complex structures and improve overall control over basic grammatical agreements and article usage.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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