Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-04

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)

It is inevitable that the use of plastic packaging, such as plastic bags and bottles have harmful effects on the environment. The use of these material affects our nature significantly by the means of air and land pollution. This essay will focus on the effects of using plastic on environment and will suggest possible solutions to resolve the problem.

First of all, usage of plastic packaging has been increasing in a recent years. These materials are insoluble and non-biodegradable. This results in soil pollution if thrown instead of sending it through the recycling process. To explain this, plastic bottles are widely thrown at public places such as beaches. Due to this, marine life can be significantly affected. Secondly, if things made up of plastic material are burnt, it spoil the air quality at a greater extent. As a result, more people may suffer from health conditions such as respiratory diseases when low quality air is breathed. Moreover, overall environmental conditions can be negatively impacted and this can decrease crop quality in the agriculture fields.

One significant solution could be minimizing the use of plastic bags. Government can play a major roles in this by imposing a higher taxes on the companies producing these products. This will not only reduce the production of plastic material, but eventually improve air and soil quality. Adding to this, awareness campaigns regarding recycling of plastic material should be held by the authorities to tackle the issue. As a result, awareness would be spread in the society and the usage of plastic will be reduced. For example, an educational institutions can impose a strict rules in schools to restrict the use of water bottles that are made of plastic.

In conclusion, despite this trend have negative effects on the environment such as low air quality and effects on the health, this can be addressed by stricter rules and awareness campaigns by schools and authorities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by identifying environmental damages such as soil pollution and poor air quality, and suggests relevant solutions involving governments and individuals. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For example, the point regarding marine life being affected when 'plastic bottles are widely thrown at public places such as beaches' is left rather general and lacks further explanation or a specific example. Similarly, while the solution of imposing higher taxes is mentioned, the development remains somewhat basic. This keeps the response at this level, as ideas are relevant and present, but lack the deeper extension and support required for a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay presents a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information and ideas are arranged coherently, with a logical flow from introducing the topic, discussing the problems in the second paragraph, offering solutions in the third, and providing a concise conclusion. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, with each paragraph focusing on a distinct central theme. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to guide the reader, such as 'First of all', 'Secondly', and 'In conclusion', demonstrating a coherent overall arrangement that makes the text easy to follow despite some minor mechanical referencing.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the intended message about environmental issues. The writer attempts less common vocabulary with mixed success, showing some awareness of topic-specific terminology like 'non-biodegradable', 'soil pollution', and 'awareness campaigns'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'spoil the air quality at a greater extent' instead of 'to a greater extent', and 'low quality air' rather than 'poor air quality'. Additionally, minor phrasing issues like 'an educational institutions can impose a strict rules' reveal occasional errors in word form and pluralisation, though these do not impede overall communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as conditional and relative clauses ('if things made up of plastic material are burnt...', 'water bottles that are made of plastic'). There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'the use of plastic packaging... have harmful effects' and article errors such as 'in a recent years' and 'impose a strict rules'. Prepositions within grammatical patterns also occasionally slip, as seen in 'at public places'. Nevertheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the arguments without difficulty.

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