Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-09

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows the process for recycling plastic bottles.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

How plastic bottles are recycled

Student answer (Band 5.0)

There are nine steps that illustrate the recycling process of plastic bottles.

In the first step,we grab the plastic bottle from different ways like from litter,houses and shops etc. In addtion, the trucks pick up these plastic bottles and reached at recycling centre this step called sorting.In fourth step, these bottles poured into compressing machince which compress these bottles into blocks.However,these blocks were crushing,in fifth step.These are pieces of plastic bottles were passing into machine which is called producing plastic pellets its crushed into vary small pieces.In 7 step,we heat this waste and get this in raw material.From this raw material we would make dofferent types of clothe,plastic bottles,Tshirts and for writing we well get pencils as well.These nine steps repeated every time for recycling the pasltic bottles.

In 5 steps there are some small plates which cut these material into small pieces which we got from this process as well.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the process as having nine steps and recognise its circular nature, noting that the stages repeat. You also mention sorting, compressing, crushing, heating and making products, so the response is relevant to the diagram. However, several important details are missing or unclear: the sorting stage separates suitable bottles from rejected items, washing occurs before pellet production, and the pellets are heated to create raw material before products are made. The opening claim that bottles come from “litter, houses and shops” is not shown, while the final sentence about “small plates” is an inaccurate interpretation of the crushing equipment. A clearer overview and a more accurate account of the full sequence would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response follows the general order of the process, and phrases such as “In the first step,” “In fourth step,” and “In 7 step” help signal progression. The reference to the process repeating also gives the account a basic sense of closure. However, nearly all the information is placed in one paragraph, and the sequence becomes difficult to follow when several stages are joined in long, loosely connected sentences. For example, the transition from crushing to pellet production does not clearly explain the intervening washing stage. “In 5 steps” at the end also introduces a detail without a clear connection to the preceding account. Use separate overview and process paragraphs, and connect each stage explicitly and accurately.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “sorting,” “compressing,” “blocks,” “raw material,” and “recycling centre,” which allows the reader to recognise the topic and several stages. However, the range is limited and some word choices or forms make the meaning unclear. “Different ways” is vague for describing where bottles are collected, and “small plates” does not accurately name the crushing equipment. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “addtion,” “machince,” “dofferent,” and “pasltic,” as well as imprecise phrases such as “get this in raw material.” Aim for accurate process terms and natural collocations, such as “are collected,” “are crushed into small pieces,” and “are converted into raw material.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe a sequence using both simple statements and longer sentences, and the reader can understand the broad process. However, sentence structures are often faulty, and errors in tense, agreement, articles and punctuation frequently interrupt clarity. For example, “the trucks pick up these plastic bottles and reached at recycling centre” shifts tense and lacks a natural grammatical construction; “these bottles poured into compressing machine” is missing an auxiliary verb; and “these blocks were crushing” uses an incorrect passive form. Several sentences also run together without spaces after punctuation, such as “However,these.” Practise consistent present-simple passive forms for process descriptions—for example, “The bottles are collected and taken to a recycling centre”—and divide longer ideas into complete sentences.

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