Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-06

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)

The consumption of packed plastic bottles or plastic bags are increasing day by day and this problem has becomes a major threat for our planet.The essay will discuss how plastic wastage create problems for our planet and how government and public unite together can take necessary steps to tackle this problem.

A news article revealed that in last ten years, the consumption of the plastic packaging has increased by thirty percent. This means it will directly effect our ecosystem. It has serve effects to land fillings and this also badly impacts our marine life because if there is garbage in the sea , the mammals in the ocean can not survive.

Government and public both can solve this problem very easily , if the there are efforts from both sides. First of all, Government should construct plastic recycling plants in each city. Government should add more recycling trucks So, the recycling managements teams works effectively. Secondly, people should educate each other to use less plastic packaging.People should adopt a habit of reusing the old plastic bottles and should throw the bottles in the recycling bins.

Conclusion, Government should hire a professional teams which can explain to people how consumption of plastic products are effecting our planet.Government should give seminars to educate the public about plastic wastage. Government should launch business programs where they can teach to people how they can make useful products from recycling the plastic bottles or bags.Government should give some investments to people who have interest to open recycling plants.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing the environmental damage caused by plastic and suggesting solutions for both governments and individuals. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. While the solutions regarding recycling plants and public education are mentioned, they remain somewhat repetitive and under-developed, particularly in the conclusion where multiple overlapping suggestions are made without sufficient elaboration or concrete examples. To reach a higher level, the ideas would need to be extended with deeper analysis and more thoroughly explored consequences.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, successfully grouping related ideas together. Cohesive devices are used to connect sentences, such as 'First of all' and 'Secondly', though referencing and transitions can occasionally feel mechanical or repetitive, such as the repeated start to sentences with 'Government should'. Paragraphing is used to separate main points, but the flow between ideas could be smoother. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to employ a wider range of cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure referencing is consistently clear throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'ecosystem', 'marine life', and 'recycling plants'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are sometimes accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'packed plastic bottles' instead of 'packaged' or 'plastic wastage' instead of 'plastic waste'. There are also occasional phrasing issues that do not impede overall communication. To move up to the next band, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of precise, sophisticated lexical items and idioms with greater natural control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to handle multi-clause structures. However, there are noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation, such as subject-verb agreement issues in 'consumption... are increasing' and 'plastic products are effecting', along with article errors like 'in last ten years' and punctuation slips. These errors persist throughout the text, though they rarely impede general communication. To reach a higher score, the writer must produce a greater proportion of error-free sentences and demonstrate better control over complex grammatical structures and articles.

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