Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-13

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)

Undoubtedly, plastic products are comparatively cheaper than other materials due to its less manufacturing costs. Despite of price, it is considered that products made of plastic such as bags, bottles and other packaging materials are harmful for environment. This essay will discuss its ways to damage the environment as well as what could be done to tackle this problem.

One of the major damages it can provide to nature is its inefficiency of getting disposed off. Plastic can never be disposed off completely in any manner, plastic thrown into the seas or rivers will affect the marine life by causing deaths if consumed by any water species and it can also survive thousands of years under sea surface which will affect the purity of water at the same time. Additionally, it cannot be burnt either because it releases toxic gases such as carbon-mono-oxide, which are harmful for the environment and becomes the cause of global warming.

To tackle this issue, one practical approach is to stop manufacturing more plastic. Governments should set some new laws and regulations on manufacturing units to stop production of newer plastic products, and guide corporations to recycle the available plastic instead. In addition, regulatory authorities should begin movements to educate people regarding various dangers to health and environment of using plastic and motivate them to recycle the products instead of throwing into garbage each time. As a result, recycling and less consumption of plastic based products among individuals could lead to a new revolution to protect environment from plastic.

To conclude, plastic based products has various ways to affect the environment from marine life, other living things to ecosystem due to its harmful scientific properties. However, this issue can still be resolved by educating people to recycle and limiting the production and consumption of these products.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses both questions and maintains a clear overall position: plastic causes environmental harm, while reduced production, recycling and public education are proposed as solutions. The explanation of harm is relevant, particularly the effects on marine life and the persistence of plastic, and the essay gives reasons for its recommendations. However, some points are asserted rather than fully explained. For example, the claim that plastic cannot be disposed of “in any manner” is too absolute, and the discussion of toxic gases and global warming would be stronger with a clearer explanation or example. The solutions are also weighted toward government action, with individuals’ practical responsibilities less fully developed. More precise, supported detail would strengthen the response further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear four-paragraph structure, moving from an introduction to environmental damage, proposed solutions and a conclusion. This progression is easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Additionally,” “To tackle this issue” and “To conclude” help signal the stages of the argument. The main ideas are generally grouped appropriately. Some connections within sentences are less controlled, however: the long sentence beginning “Plastic can never be disposed off completely” joins several consequences without clearly separating them, making the relationship between disposal, marine harm and water purity harder to follow. The conclusion also repeats the main points rather than drawing them together. Breaking up dense sentences and using more precise referencing would make cohesion more flexible and natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response uses an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “marine life,” “toxic gases,” “regulations,” “recycle” and “consumption.” These choices make the subject clear, and there are attempts at more formal phrasing. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “damages it can provide to nature,” “inefficiency of getting disposed off” and “begin movements to educate people.” “Carbon-mono-oxide” is also not the standard spelling of the gas’s name. These issues do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Aim to learn common environmental collocations and choose direct verbs, for example, saying plastic “harms ecosystems” or “is difficult to dispose of safely.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay attempts a mix of simple and complex structures, including a concessive opening with “Despite…” and clauses introduced by “because” and “which.” Meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. In the opening, “plastic products … due to its” has a pronoun-agreement problem, while “products made of plastic … are harmful for environment” needs more accurate article use. The sentence beginning “Plastic can never be disposed off completely” becomes a run-on as it links several independent ideas with commas. There is also a subject–verb agreement error in “plastic based products has.” Improve control of agreement, articles and sentence boundaries, and check that longer sentences contain clearly connected clauses. More accurate complex sentences would demonstrate the range attempted here.

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