Samples / Task 2 essay / Discuss both views / Band 7.5

Balancing Government Bans and Consumer Action on Plastic Pollution

An IELTS Academic Task 2 essay discussing whether governments or consumers should take responsibility for plastic waste, written at a Band 7.5 level.

The question

Plastic waste is polluting oceans and rivers around the world. Some argue that governments should ban single use plastics entirely, while others say the responsibility lies with consumers. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

The issue of plastic pollution in global waterways has reached a critical point, leading to intense debate over who should take action. While many people believe that governments should implement a total ban on single-use plastics, others argue that the responsibility should rest on the shoulders of individual consumers. In my opinion, although consumer awareness is important, a government ban is the only truly effective way to address this crisis. On the one hand, those who advocate for consumer responsibility argue that public demand drives production. If individuals make a conscious decision to avoid buying plastic-packaged goods and instead use reusable bags and containers, companies will naturally stop producing plastic items to remain profitable. Furthermore, proper recycling habits start at home. If every household diligently sorted their waste, the amount of plastic entering rivers and oceans will decrease significantly. Therefore, proponents of this view believe that education and personal accountability are the keys to solving the problem. On the other hand, many argue that relying solely on consumers is unrealistic, and that governments must take decisive action by banning single-use plastics. The main reason for this is convenience. Most people, even those who care about the environment, will choose the cheaper and more convenient option, which is almost always plastic. A complete government ban forces manufacturers to develop sustainable alternatives and removes the choice of using harmful materials entirely. For instance, in countries where plastic shopping bags have been banned, citizens quickly adapted to using cloth bags without any major disruptions for their daily lives. In conclusion, while consumers certainly have a role to play in reducing waste through their purchasing power and recycling habits, their impact is restricted by the options that are available for them. I believe that governments must take the lead by banning single-use plastics. Without strong legislation, voluntary consumer action will never be fast or widespread enough to save our oceans and rivers from further destruction.

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This answer was written by a language model to a real exam question, then scored by Bandly against the four public band descriptors. The band is a software estimate. No examiner has marked it, and the band a real examiner would award may differ. Scored with google/gemini-3.5-flash on 2026-09-08.

Estimated overall

7.5

Mean of the four criteria, rounded the way the exam rounds it.

Task Response 9

You are at Band 9 for Task Response because you fully address all parts of the task, maintain a clear position, and support your ideas with relevant, well‑developed arguments.

Coherence and Cohesion 7

The response demonstrates clear progression and logical organisation of ideas, but the range of cohesive devices, while appropriate, is not extensive enough to reach a higher band.

Lexical Resource 7

Your lexical range is sufficient for flexibility and precision, but occasional inaccuracies in word choice and a lack of truly uncommon lexical items prevent a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7

You use a variety of complex structures and produce frequent error-free sentences, but a few errors in grammar and punctuation prevent a higher score.

What would take this higher

To improve your coherence and cohesion score to a band 8, you should focus on using a wider and more sophisticated range of cohesive devices instead of relying on mechanical transitions like 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand'. For instance, you could link the ideas in your second paragraph more naturally by using referencing words, such as changing 'If every household diligently sorted their waste' to 'Such household diligence would significantly decrease the amount of plastic entering rivers.' This shift from repetitive transitional phrases to seamless lexical cohesion will make your overall progression feel much more fluid and less formulaic.

Find out what this essay would score

Paste your own answer and Bandly returns an estimated band for each of the four criteria, with the sentences that pulled the score down. Under a cent an essay, about six seconds.

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