Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

In nowadays there is considerable debate on what are the impacts of plactic waste on environment and what could be possible solutions to eradicate these concerns. This essay will elaborate about the issues arising due to plastic contamination and will suggest some interventions to resolve these issues.

By recent years utilization of plastic has been increased drastically. It is used in production of plastic bags, bottles, pakaging.Altough it is cheap, but it has various drawbacks such as it cause water and land pollution.Futhermpore, plastic material is non degredable even after a long time it sustain in environment .In addition to this it effect marine life very badly. For instance, plastic material remain suspended in water and act as an insulation between open air and underneath marine life. It effects oxygen and carbondioxide levels in water thus effecting variety of species.While considering the issues of plastic use actions are needed to be taken by authoritize to reduce these issues.

This corcern can be resolved by replacing the plastic material with other material which is less harmfull.Plastic bags and pakaging should be replaced by cloth bags .Along this recycling methods should be introduced through which we can replace our wasted plastic with a new goods.By providing education to the public regarding important of seggrigation and recycling it can make easy the process of recycling. For instance, if publics konws that in which bin they have to throw plastic and where other ones, would be beneficial for themselves and for the environment too. Policy makers should run awareness campaigns and educate people by using social media and learning institutions.

While considering problems, plastic is causing nowadays, it is very crucial to take necessary steps as soon as possible so we could reduce its impact on environment and wildlife.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, discussing both the environmental damage caused by plastic and potential solutions involving governments and individuals. The writer maintains a clear overall position throughout the essay. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others, which places the response in this band category. For instance, while the solutions regarding cloth bags and educational campaigns are detailed, the explanation of how plastic impacts marine life remains somewhat general, relying on the single example of water insulation without deeper exploration. To reach a higher level, the writer would need to extend and support all main ideas with more fully elaborated examples and thorough explanations rather than leaving certain points partially developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement and logical progression of ideas, successfully fulfilling the lower band requirements while displaying elements of the next. The response is divided into logical paragraphs, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing environmental damage and solutions, followed by a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'For instance,' 'In addition to this,' and 'Along this,' though some referencing and transitions can feel slightly mechanical or awkward, such as 'While considering the issues of plastic use actions are needed to be taken by authoritize'. Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately, but to secure a higher band, the writer must ensure that all cohesive links and referencing are managed with greater flexibility and natural flow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully communicating the main arguments regarding plastic pollution. There are noticeable attempts to use less common items such as 'eradicate', 'drastically', and 'seggrigation', but these are accompanied by frequent spelling and word-choice errors that occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader. Examples of lexical slips include 'plactic' instead of plastic, 'pakaging', 'non degredable', 'sustain' instead of persist, and 'authoritize' instead of authorities. Furthermore, collocations and word forms are sometimes imprecise, such as 'important of seggrigation' instead of importance of segregation. To improve to a higher level, the writer needs to expand their control over less common lexical items, ensure correct word formation, and eliminate spelling mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt at structures such as conditional-like clauses and subordinate clauses. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that can cause difficulty for the reader, which places the response within this band. Examples include article omission and misuse ('In nowadays', 'in environment'), preposition errors ('effect marine life', 'impacts of plactic waste on environment'), and subject-verb agreement or tense issues ('plastic material remain', 'if publics konws'). Punctuation and sentence boundary issues also occur, such as run-on phrasing and missing commas in complex structures. To achieve a higher band, the writer must increase control over grammatical structures, ensuring greater accuracy in prepositions, articles, and verb agreement across both simple and complex sentences.

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