Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

In many countries, plastic use continuously increasing. People are highly use plastic bags, bottles and plastic packaging items. This all items are harmful for land,human as well as animals. plastic consumption cause of land polution, human health and animal health. To overcome it government should band plastic items and individual should reduce plastic usage.

To begin with damages, Plastic usage can not increase earth pollution. Earth like a complex sponge capable of absorbing several different elements from the environment. Land and soil can absorb all thing like mud, food or water but it can not take plastic inside. Moreover, plastic items can recycled in practice. It also problematic for human and animal health. Plastic items process through many chemicals and it cause of dangerous disease in humans and animals. For example, people taking hot food in plastic containers and because of hot food plastic release chemical and when it mix with food and people eat that food, they have to face disease such as stomach pain, food poisoning and vomiting. Additionaly, plastic also affect animals intestine. When people throwing their food wrapped in a plastic bag in garbage, animals taking that food and plastic stuck in their throat and then they can not take food, plastic become cause of animal death.

To overcome this problem, Goverment should take a strict step towards it. They should banned plastic items in food service. It can be done only with initiative. If govern

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify relevant environmental harms, including soil pollution, risks from chemicals in food containers, and animals swallowing plastic, and you give examples to explain these points. However, the response addresses the task only partially: the proposed solutions are barely covered. You say governments should ban plastic in food services and individuals should reduce use, but the response ends mid-sentence at “If govern,” so there is no explanation of what individuals could do or how the measures would work. The opening also makes broad claims without developing them. The required minimum length is not met, which contributes to the limited development. To improve, complete both parts of the solutions discussion and explain each idea with a practical example or reason.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation: the opening introduces the issue, “To begin with” signals the discussion of damage, and “To overcome this problem” introduces solutions. The examples about hot food containers and animals eating wrapped food also give the damage paragraph a recognisable sequence. However, progression is limited because the response stops during the solutions section, leaving the second question largely unanswered. Some links are unclear or mechanical, such as “Moreover” before the point about recycling, which does not clearly connect to the preceding claim. The long animal example also contains several ideas joined together without clear breaks. Use separate paragraphs for environmental damage and solutions, and connect each point with clear, accurate transitions and reference words.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some topic-related vocabulary, including “chemicals,” “food poisoning,” “intestine,” and “garbage,” which helps communicate the subject. However, the range is limited and several word choices or forms are inaccurate enough to make parts difficult to understand. For example, “plastic use continuously increasing” and “plastic consumption cause of land polution” do not express the intended ideas naturally; “plastic items process through many chemicals” is also unclear. Spelling errors such as “polution,” “Additionaly,” and “Goverment” further reduce accuracy. Build a more precise set of environmental terms and check collocations and spelling. For instance, describe plastic as “non-biodegradable” and say it “releases harmful chemicals” rather than using the less clear phrasing in the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts some longer sentences, particularly in the example about hot food and plastic containers, but these are often faulty and difficult to follow. Basic sentence patterns also contain frequent errors, as in “plastic use continuously increasing,” “People are highly use,” and “plastic consumption cause of.” These need a finite verb and correct agreement, such as “plastic use is increasing” and “people use plastic extensively.” There are also problems with articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries, including “all items” and the run-on sequence beginning “When people throwing their food.” Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then build longer sentences using clear clauses and correct verb forms.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.