Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The diagram illustrates the process how plastic bottles are recycled.

Overall, it can be seen that the process consists nine stages. To start with, collecting bottles are bin and ending with production of items.

To start with, wasting bottles are collecting by a modern trash truck. Then the bottles are sorting in the recycling center for searching good quality. Furthermore, all sorting piece are compressing by a machine into a blocks. The next steps, rounded blocks are crushing by a crush machine for little sizes. After that, the small piece are washing into water.

After that, the washing plastic are producing a plastic pellets by machine. The collected plastic are heating for making raw materials then separated into a one by one in the store. Finally, raw materials are using for making product such as, bottles, t-shirt, bags, pencils etc and then again wasted and again recycled by same process.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the diagram as a recycling process and give a broad overview, noting that it begins with bottles being collected and ends with products being made and recycled again. Several central stages are also included, such as sorting, compressing, crushing, washing, pellet production and heating. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the bottles are put in a recycling bin before collection by truck, rather than being collected by the truck at the outset, and the sorting stage separates acceptable from rejected bottles, not simply bottles of “good quality.” The description of the raw material being “separated into a one by one in the store” is not supported by the diagram. To make the account more complete and precise, explain the sequence clearly and describe the final products shown, including containers and pencils as well as clothing and bags.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is divided into an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs describing the process, and the stages are generally presented in the correct order. Sequencing expressions such as “To start with,” “Then,” “After that” and “Finally” help the reader follow the cycle. However, “To start with” is repeated, and the overview’s phrase “To start with, collecting bottles are bin and ending with production of items” is difficult to follow. Some links between stages are also unclear, particularly the transition from heating pellets to the raw material being stored. Use a more direct overview and organise the process into clear stages, with each linking phrase showing the next step without repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “recycling center,” “compressing,” “crushing,” “plastic pellets” and “raw materials,” so the reader can recognise the main subject and many stages. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations make the description imprecise, such as “wasting bottles,” “rounded blocks,” “crush machine” and “separated into a one by one in the store.” “Items” and “product” are also general where the diagram shows specific end products. Choose accurate process terms and use them consistently—for example, refer to discarded bottles, compressed blocks, a crushing machine and finished products. This would make the account clearer and more appropriate to a formal process description.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and longer sentences linked with sequencing words, but the range of structures is limited and errors occur frequently. These include missing or incorrect verb forms and agreement: “the process consists nine stages,” “bottles are sorting,” and “the small piece are washing.” The opening phrase “the process how plastic bottles are recycled” also needs a grammatical link, such as “the process by which.” Articles and plurals are inconsistent in “into a blocks” and “a plastic pellets,” while “raw materials are using” has an incorrect passive construction. Practise forming passive sentences for process stages, as the bottles and materials undergo each action, and check subject–verb agreement, articles and plural nouns.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.