Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-14

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 6.0)

Plastic pollution is one of the major environmental problem in modern world. There is ongoing debate regarding use of plastic bags and packaging and its adverse effects. It is widely accepted that plastic consumption has been causing harms to the environment.

First and foremost, plastic bags and bottles accumulate on the land because they take hundreds of years to decopmose, resulting in the accumulation of waste products. Secondly, plastic wastes enter into river, lakes and sea and cotaminate the water resources. Additionaly, plastic waste is harming marine life. Many animal swallow plastic items or entrapped themselves in plastic bottles which can cause imjuries and death. For instance,there are so many reports of injury to the endangered animals.

Apart from this, plastic degrades into chemical components that are oncogenic.

Burning plastic releases harmful chemicals and green house gases into the atmosphere, results into air pollution.

Several measures can be take to protect the environment. Government should actively participate into the matter and should made proper legislation regarding the use of plastics. Plastic bags and and packaging should be replaced with paper bags. For instance,there should be heavy tax and fines on the consumption and selling of plastic bottles and bags. In this giverment can encourage people to buy alternatives.

For the protection of marine life, authorities should ban plastic bags and bottles in the beach sites.

Additionally, educational compaigns can encourage people to use alternative paper bags. Goverment should restrict the production of plastic products and facilitate recycling.

Media can arrange webseminars for the public awareness.

If public and goverment work together, plastic pollution can be reduced significantly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses both parts of the question: it identifies environmental damage, including persistent waste, water contamination, harm to marine animals and pollution from burning plastic, then proposes actions for governments and the public. The examples of animals swallowing plastic and possible fines help make the discussion relevant. However, some points are asserted rather than explained. For example, the claim that plastic breaks down into “oncogenic” components is not clarified, and the suggestions to replace packaging with paper and restrict production would benefit from reasons or practical detail. The final statement gives a clear overall position that joint action can reduce pollution, but the response would be stronger if each main proposal were developed and linked explicitly to the damage described.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on environmental harm, a paragraph of proposed measures, and a concluding sentence. Sequencing phrases such as “First and foremost,” “Secondly,” and “Additionally” help readers follow the list of points. However, the progression is sometimes mechanical, with several ideas presented one after another without showing how they connect. “Apart from this” introduces a new type of harm, while the shift from government action to beach-site bans and public education could be organised more clearly. Some linking is also awkward, as in “In this giverment can encourage people,” which makes the relationship between the tax proposal and its intended effect unclear. Grouping measures by who should act and explaining their links would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response uses an adequate range of topic vocabulary, including “accumulate,” “contaminate,” “marine life,” “legislation,” “alternatives,” and “recycling.” These choices show an attempt to discuss the issue beyond basic terms, and the meaning is generally understandable. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise: “plastic consumption has been causing harms,” “injury to the endangered animals,” and “in the beach sites” do not sound natural in context. Spelling errors such as “decopmose,” “cotaminate,” “Additionaly,” and “compaigns” also reduce accuracy. Aim to check spelling carefully and learn common environmental collocations, such as “plastic waste harms wildlife” and “impose a tax on plastic products.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There is a mix of simple statements and attempts at more complex structures, including the opening sentence and the clause beginning “because they take hundreds of years to…” The main ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors occur across the response. Examples include singular-plural agreement in “one of the major environmental problem,” the verb form in “Many animal swallow,” and the construction “Burning plastic releases …, results into air pollution.” The sentence “Government should … and should made proper legislation” also has errors in article use and verb form. Punctuation is inconsistent, particularly the missing spaces after commas in “For instance,there.” To improve, check subject–verb agreement and keep parallel verb forms when joining actions.

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