Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-05

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 4.5)

Plastic products are considered as good for humans but bad for the environment because these products can not be disposed easily. Due to increase in the usage of these products like plastic bottles and plastic bags, it is difficult to cope with this problem.

To begin with, synthetic materials are used in everyday life to make living easier, but masses are not aware that this is becoming big problem for our environment in coming days. To elaborate it, people are using these products like single use polythene bags in daily for doing different shores, which are more harmful because they use these bags one time and throw it in garbage. Plastic products are also affecting wildlife

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response only partially addresses the task due to a severe limitation in length, failing to meet the minimum word requirement by a significant margin. While the writer introduces the topic of plastic pollution, the discussion remains truncated and underdeveloped. The first part of the prompt concerning the environmental damage caused by plastic is only superficially touched upon with brief mentions of wildlife and disposal issues, while the second part regarding solutions by governments and individuals is entirely missing. Consequently, the position is not fully articulated and the ideas lack the necessary extension and support expected for a complete essay.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The text displays some basic organization with an initial introduction and a transitional phrase 'To begin with', but there is no clear overall progression or development of a cohesive argument. Paragraphing is attempted, but the final paragraph breaks off abruptly in the middle of a sentence, leaving the structural flow incomplete. Cohesive devices are basic and somewhat mechanical, such as 'To elaborate it', and referencing is occasionally unclear, which hampers the logical development of ideas across the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for basic communication, featuring common terms like 'plastic bottles', 'plastic bags', and 'environment'. There are noticeable lexical errors, such as the misspelling 'shores' instead of 'chores', and awkward word choices like 'disposed easily' where 'disposed of' is required. Attempts to use less common or more precise expressions are absent, and the restricted range causes some difficulty and strain for the reader in grasping the full intended meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple or basic complex forms. Attempts at more complex structures often become faulty, such as in the opening sentence where 'are considered as good' contains an unnecessary preposition. There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('a big problem'), incorrect prepositions ('in daily for doing'), and punctuation omissions, all of which cause frequent difficulty for the reader and reflect poor overall control.

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

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