Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-19

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)

In recent years, the use of plastic has been increased. It is irrefutable that, the use of plastic has not only detrimental impact on human's health but also impacting the environment is negatively. Plastic is damaging the environment in several ways which requires a individuals and governments contribution to solve this raising issue.

The usage of plastic leading to considerable issues such as soil degradation, marine life and air pollution. Plastic is a combination of dangerous material and gases. The waste of plastic bags, bottles and plastic packaging that cannot reuse needs to dump or shatter it. If the plastic rubbish

dump under the soil it can leads to soil degradation because it need several years for decomposing and it reduces the quality of soil, therefore this land cannot be used for agriculture. Moreover, plastice wastage around the water areas such as beaches, rivers and water falls can harm the marine life because consumption of plastic by marine creatures can be harmful for their lives. Adittionally, gases released by plastic smoke can effect the air quality that can be dangerous for human's health and can leads to several deseases such as asthma and cancer.

To mitigate issues caused by plastic, government and individuals should take some steps cooperately. Individually, people should eliminate the use of plastic and should replace plactic with resuable things such as resuable bags and bottles. Government should implement strict rules and regulation with heavy penalities for the companys who use plastice excessevily

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address both questions by identifying damage to soil, marine life and air quality, then suggesting that individuals use reusable items and governments penalise companies. These are relevant points, but several are only briefly explained: for example, the proposed government action is unfinished and does not specify how rules would be enforced or what alternatives businesses should adopt. The opening also introduces effects on human health, while the response gives little detail about the wider environmental consequences or a concrete example. The response is 246 words, so it falls short of the required 250-word minimum. Develop each solution and support the main points with a specific example to make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph explaining environmental damage, and a paragraph proposing solutions. The sequence from soil to water to air is easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Moreover” and “Additionally” help signal the next point. However, the solutions paragraph ends abruptly after the suggestion of penalties, so the discussion feels incomplete. Some connections are also mechanical or unclear, as in “therefore this land cannot be used for agriculture,” where the relationship could be expressed more smoothly. Improve progression by completing the final paragraph and using clear topic sentences and references to connect each cause, effect and proposed response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “soil degradation,” “marine life,” “air quality” and “decomposing,” which helps communicate the main environmental concerns. However, the range is limited and several inaccurate or misspelled choices make the writing less clear, such as “plastice wastage,” “Adittionally,” “deseases” and “penalities.” Some phrases are also unnatural, including “the use of plastic has been increased” and “plastic smoke.” Aim for more precise collocations and check spelling carefully. For instance, describe plastic waste being “buried” or “dumped,” and refer to “toxic fumes” released when plastic is burned. This would make the argument clearer and more appropriate for an academic response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including a conditional explanation beginning “If the plastic rubbish…,” and use clauses with “because” and “which.” However, errors occur frequently and sometimes make relationships difficult to follow. Examples include “the use of plastic has been increased,” “it can leads,” and “it need several years,” which show problems with verb forms and subject–verb agreement. The opening sentence also has faulty construction in “not only detrimental impact … but also impacting.” Articles and sentence boundaries need attention, and the final sentence is incomplete. Practise building accurate subject–verb patterns first, then add subordinate clauses and check each sentence for a complete main clause.

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