Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

Nature is considered as the best gift of God to the mankind. But, some synthetic products like plastic proves to be a potential threat to the environment. Plastic is used nowadays in every household items either they are bags, bottles and packaging. There are various negative impacts of plastic on the environment and the measures to solve this issue are explained in the upcoming paragraphs.

To commence with the damage caused by plastic , the first and foremost one is pollution. To explicate, plastic is the main cause of air, water and soil pollution. Burning of plastic releases poisonous fumes in the air as well as contamination of plastic in water bodies pollute them and lead to death of various marine animals. Moreover, plastic remains in soil for years as it is non biodegradable which results in deteriorating quality of soil.

Moving further to solutions, Individuals should follow reduce , reuse and recycle principle to control the use of plastic in daily life. Another point of consideration include awareness campaigns which are to be arranged by government to make people aware of harmful effects of plastic . To add on, strict laws should be implemented to promote use of paper and cloth bags insted of polythene.

To conclude, plastic is very dangerous for the nature as it spoils teh quality of air , awater and soil.Therefore both individuals and government should work hand in hand to reduce this issue of increasing plastic.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You address both parts of the question: you identify pollution and harm to marine life and soil, then suggest actions for individuals and governments. The examples of toxic fumes from burning plastic and plastic persisting in soil are relevant. However, the effects are explained briefly, and the proposed measures—recycling, awareness campaigns, and laws encouraging alternatives—are listed more than developed; for instance, you could explain how a specific restriction or recycling scheme would reduce plastic waste. The response is also 8 words below the required minimum, so it does not fully meet the task’s length instruction. Adding a developed example or explanation would help you cover the ideas more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on environmental damage, a paragraph on solutions, and a conclusion. Sequencing phrases such as “To commence with,” “Moving further,” and “To conclude” make the progression easy to follow, and the reader can distinguish the two parts of the task. Some linking is formulaic, however, and the solutions paragraph moves quickly from individual action to government campaigns and laws without explaining the relationship between them. The conclusion also repeats the main points rather than drawing them together. To strengthen progression, use fewer stock transitions and connect each proposed measure to the specific damage it addresses.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “pollution,” “poisonous fumes,” “marine animals,” and “non biodegradable,” which helps communicate the environmental effects. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “potential threat” and “strict laws.” However, some word choices and collocations are awkward or imprecise: “plastic in water bodies pollute them” and “increasing plastic” do not sound natural in context. Spelling errors such as “insted” and “teh” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise, natural combinations—for example, “plastic waste contaminates waterways” and “the growing use of plastic”—and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a cause-and-effect explanation with “which results in” and a sentence describing the consequences of burning plastic. Meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “plastic proves” should be “plastic products prove,” and “Another point of consideration include” needs subject–verb agreement (“includes”). Articles and sentence construction also need attention in “used nowadays in every household items”; a clearer form is “used nowadays in household items.” Punctuation spacing is inconsistent, and the final sentence runs together after “soil.” Review agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, while continuing to use subordinate clauses to show relationships between ideas.

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