Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-24

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)

Environmental problems are increasing day by day. The environment is affected by plastic wrappings, bottles and bags, which causes pollution. However, some solutions can mitigate this problem. Although, plastic is harmful for surrounding, solutions are available to decrease the pollution such as banning plastic etc,. I will elaborate damages and solutions along with some examples in upcoming paragraphs.

The primary reason why plastic should not be used is that it creates soil pollution. This is because plastic is not biogradable. When plastic waste accumulates in the environment, it can harm wildlife because animals may mistake plastic pieces for food. Furthermore, People would not have space to store them. That is why to vanish them, they will use alternative ways such as burning or reshape them.For example, many industries burn plastic to reshape it for reusing, leading to harmful gases. As a result, people experience difficulty in breathing because of these harmful gases such as carban dioxide. Thus, plastic not only creates soil pollution but also leads to air pollution.

On the other hand, there are number of ways to reduce this problem. Firstly, people should be encouraged not to use plastic for wrapping gifts, bottles or food. The more people learn about the disadvantages of plastic, the less they may use plastic things.Thus, this problem can be controled by using this way. In addition to it, government should ban plastic. For instance, Canadian government already banned the plastic bags.Therefore, production of bags is reduced by 50 percent. if the production is managed, then effects on environment will reduce automatically,

In conclusion, according to the aforementioned arguments, it seems that plastic leads to many damages to environment such as soils and air pollution, whereas some solutions can prevent to spread this problem by educating individuals or banning products made by plastic.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You address both parts of the question and maintain a clear overall position: plastic causes environmental harm, and education and government restrictions can help. The discussion of non-biodegradable waste, wildlife ingesting plastic, and pollution from burning is relevant, and the Canadian ban example supports your proposed action. This meets the task well overall. However, some points are less fully developed than others: the effects on wildlife are mentioned briefly, while the claim that people lack storage space and therefore burn or reshape plastic is not clearly explained or supported. The solutions would be stronger with more detail on how individuals can change habits and how governments can enforce or expand restrictions. Develop these links to make the response more complete and persuasive.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure, moving from an introduction to environmental damage, then solutions, and finally a conclusion. Paragraphing helps the reader distinguish these stages, and signposts such as “Furthermore,” “Firstly,” and “In conclusion” make the progression easy to follow. This is a coherent arrangement, though some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “That is why to vanish them” does not clearly link the storage point to burning, and “On the other hand” suggests a contrast where you are actually introducing solutions. The introduction also repeats the idea of available solutions. Use more precise referencing and transitions, and ensure each sentence develops the point immediately before it, to make cohesion more flexible and natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “soil pollution,” “wildlife,” “harmful gases,” and “production.” There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “not biodegradable” and “accumulates in the environment.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “biogradable,” “carban dioxide,” “controled,” and “vanish” are problematic, while “plastic things” and “many damages” are vague or unnatural. Some phrases, including “effects on environment will reduce automatically,” do not express the intended relationship precisely. Build a more accurate range of environmental collocations and check spelling and word forms carefully; this will help you express relevant ideas with greater clarity and flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including a conditional sentence (“If the production is managed…”) and a comparative construction (“The more people learn…, the less they may use…”). These show some range, and the main message is generally understandable. However, errors in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and punctuation recur. For example, “which causes pollution” does not agree clearly with the plural list, “Although, plastic is harmful…” is incorrectly punctuated, and “there are number of ways” is missing an article. The final solution paragraph also ends with a comma, and several sentences run together without spaces after full stops. Review clause boundaries, agreement, and article use, then proofread punctuation. More consistently accurate complex sentences would strengthen control.

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